Romeo and Cinderella
by DominoTyler
Summary: "This is the story of how I, Hermione Jean Granger, lowly bookworm and Order of the Phoenix member, found out I was a princess, and saved all of the Wizarding world, all the while learning manners, surviving ballroom dancing with complete strangers that wanted to marry me, and, shudderingly, the arranged marriage to the most surprising person of my life." Dramione!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, or any other recognizable material. This fanfiction was not written for profit and I do not claim ownership except for the plot.**

I got this idea and I had to write it. Like it was imperative that I write it all down quickly before the great idea went away. Also, I had to change her birthday a bit to match what I want, so yeah.

Strangely, this fic is _not _based on a song, as most of my other ones are, but yeah, I'm just going to get started here! ^^

…

_And they lived happily ever after…_

These are the words every girl dreams about, even if only for a five day princess phase. For me, it hadn't been a phase. For me, I'd wished with all of my heart that I was a princess, that I secretly belonged to someone else, that I was meant to rule a kingdom in some far off land.

And it all seemed so possible with the discovery that I possessed magic. If magic existed, there was the potential that I _could _be a princess, that someone would come and sweep me away, and I could possibly live happily ever after.

As my Hogwarts years went on, however, I soon realised that no, I was not a princess, and I most likely would never be one. In fact, I was treated the complete opposite of a princess, no matter how much I felt like one on the night of the Yule Ball. I was called names and I was attracting all of the wrong people and, let's face it, I'd never even had a boyfriend.

Everything changed, conversely, on my eighteenth birthday. I was completely unprepared for what happened, but I'm pretty sure that was the point. I was even more unprepared by what the news I received on that day led to, but no one could have expected that to happen, and I blame nobody for what happened.

So, here is my story. The story of how I, Hermione Jean Granger, lowly bookworm and Order of the Phoenix member, found out she was a princess, and saved all of the Wizarding world, all the while learning manners, surviving ballroom dancing with complete strangers that want to marry me, and, shudderingly, the arranged marriage to the most surprising person of my life. Here is my story. It is all 100% true. Here we go.

…

Hermione was very concerned when her parents called her down from packing away her things to move into her new flat for a "chat." They never "chatted" before supper. Before supper was always and always had been her time. She didn't think that had changed since she'd returned their memory to them, but perhaps they'd forgotten that little detail?

Either they'd forgotten or someone had died. Hermione was hoping for the former. She wasn't sure she'd be able to take any more death for the rest of her life. She'd seen enough death in her eighteen years for a lifetime.

As she descended the stairs, she realised it probably only had to do with today being her birthday. It probably had absolutely nothing to do with someone dying or her being in trouble. She was just overreacting. It was all okay.

Hermione peeked around the corner to find her parents were staring at the staircase, obviously waiting for her to come down so they could give her whatever news they needed to share with her. Hermione smiled and tucked some stray hair behind her ears before she stepped fully into their view.

"Hey," she said. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Her mother smiled and motioned towards the couch across from them. "Take a seat, love. We have a bit of…erm…surprising news for you. Something we've wanted to tell you for quite a long time."

Hermione blinked. "Erm, okay. Sure." She took a seat on the couch. Her parents said nothing. She cleared her throat. "So…"

Her father sighed. "Hermione, pumpkin, there's really no easy way to say this, so we're just going to come right out and say it." He looked to her mother as if for reassurance, and she nodded. He reached out and Hermione took his hand, becoming more and more nervous with every passing second.

"You're adopted."

Hermione felt as though she had been sucker-punched in the face by a giant. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes and she felt hot and cold all at the same time. She felt her hands break out in sweat and she quickly pulled her hand away from her father's as if she'd been stung. Her ears felt like they'd been stuffed with cotton and her vision blurred. She was afraid she might faint.

"_Oh," _she whispered breathlessly, feeling around for the armrests of the couch she was seated in, needing to feel something that might ground her to this Earth, so that she would not suddenly break free from gravity and shoot up to the ceiling. Because if she were adopted, then everything was a lie. Her whole life. Everything she'd ever been told. Gravity included.

She managed to find her mother's saddened face when she began to speak.

"We're very sorry to have kept this from you, Hermione," she said. "Really. Truly. It wasn't our choice to keep it a secret. It…it was the choice of your _real _parents."

Hermione felt herself tearing up. She was shaking her head now, not comprehending anything her parents were trying to tell her, not really. She tried to understand, really, she did, but this was just _too much._

"Hermione, dear, I know this is a lot to take in," said Mrs. Granger, who had at some point during Hermione's breakdown sat down beside her. Hermione was crying into her shoulder, hugging her tightly. "But you need to get cleaned up, now, because your real parents are going to be here in just a few minutes –"

Hermione's tears suddenly stopped and she was angry. "My _real _parents? No. They are _not _my _real parents. _You guys gave me away. Why do they even want to see me, anyways? They apparently didn't want to see me so much they _gave me away."_ Hermione got to her feet so suddenly that her head spun. She turned and headed for the door.

Mrs. Granger sounded afraid. "Hermione, love, where are you going? Sweetie, you need to stay here. They'll be here in just a few minutes -!"

Hermione hadn't heard a single word. "I'm going out. I'll be home before dark."

"Hermione!"

The slamming door cut off her father's words. If they'd really cared, they would have come after her, so she simply kept going. Pulling her wand from her boot and not caring who saw, Hermione conjured a patronus that split in two.

"Meet me at Seamus's pub," the message said. "It's urgent."

Then she turned into an alley and apparated. It was close enough to her house that she knew her parents would have heard the _pop _so they would know to leave her alone and not come after her. As if they could.

She stepped inside the pub and strutted straight to the bar, where she sat down and slapped her hand against the counter, startling the barkeep, who smiled in recognition.

"Eh, 'Ermione!" Seamus Finnegan exclaimed. "Happy birthday!" He blinked when he noticed her expression, and his face fell when she suddenly erupted into tears. He came around the bar quickly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "'Ermione? Something wrong? Of course something's wrong, that was a stupid thing to say." He shook his head. "Can I help?"

Hermione took several gulps of air before speaking. She offered up a watery smile. "A Firewhiskey might help."

Seamus grinned as he walked back around the counter. "That I can do. Are Harry and Ron on their way?"

Hermione nodded. "They should be here in a few minutes." Seamus set a bottle in front of her. She sniffed and picked it up. "Thanks," she said quickly before downing half the bottle.

"Yipes!" Seamus exclaimed when she finally slammed the bottle back on the table. "What happened to you?"

She shook her head, her eyes squeezed tight as she waited for the burning sensation in her brain and throat to reduce to a nice buzz. "I'll explain when Harry and Ron get here. I don't want to have to repeat myself."

Seamus nodded. "I won't have to wait too long, then. Look." He nodded at the door.

Hermione turned to see two sprinting boys crash through the front doors.

"Hermione!" They exclaimed simultaneously as they approached their best friend.

The next couple of moments were filled with incoherent sentences as Hermione tried to calm the boys as they kept asking prying questions that had absolutely no relation to what Hermione was about to tell them. But really, how could they know?

"Guys!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Calm down, it's alright. No, Harry, no one died, and no, Ronald, I was not raped, nor am I pregnant by a secret boy. It's…" She sighed. "It's nothing like that."

She sat down.

"Well, what is it, then?" Harry asked as he took as seat in front of her. Ron stayed standing.

Hermione took a deep breath and kept her eyes locked on her Firewhiskey bottle. "I'm adopted."

There was a silence. Then:

"Oh, Hermione."

Three sets of comforting arms surrounded her, and Hermione felt her heart melting. She closed her eyes and leaned into the embraces, her eyes filling up with tears again.

"I know it happens all of the time," she said through tears. "And I know I should be happy, because my parents could have been psychos but I ended up with such great parents instead of people who didn't even want me, but I just…they waited until _now _to tell me. My whole life…I thought…"

Harry smiled and patted her back. "It's okay to feel that way, Hermione."

"Yeah, Hermione," Ron said. "Besides, we love you either way."

Hermione smiled.

"Do you know for sure that they didn't want you?" Seamus asked. "I mean, maybe they just couldn't afford you, or they weren't ready to raise a kid. It's a lot of work, you know."

Hermione sighed. "I'm not sure. I didn't stick around for the story. I was just _so angry _that they'd kept this from me my whole life that…I just had to get out."

"Maybe you should go back," Harry said. "You know, figure out the whole story."

Hermione shrugged. "I will." She raised her Firewhiskey bottle. "After a few more of these." She took a gulp and gave a wry smile. _"Happy birthday, Hermione. You're adopted!"_

Harry patted her arm. "We're going to need a few more of these, Shay."

Seamus grinned. "Coming right up."

…

Hermione returned home several hours later in the arms of Harry, who had been the one to catch her as she passed out after crying several minutes' worth of angry tears and puking all over the parking lot.

"Hello, Mrs. Granger," Harry said as he stepped through the door. He nodded. "Mr. Granger. I'm just going to take Hermione up to her bedroom, if that's alright with you."

Mrs. Granger sighed, and then smiled sadly. "Of course, Harry. Thank you very much."

"No problem," Harry replied, carrying the unconscious girl up the stairs and into her bedroom. He laid her down and removed her shoes before covering her in a blanket. He kissed her forehead.

"Everything's going to be alright," he told her before he stood up and left the room.

On his way down was when he noticed the Granger's had company.

"Oh, excuse me; I didn't mean to intrude," Harry said awkwardly as he moved to leave the house.

"It's alright, Harry," said Mrs. Granger. "I want you to meet someone."

Harry blinked. "Okay."

He turned to the strange woman.

"Hello, Harry Potter," she said, her blood red lips smiling delicately. "I am Gizelle de la Estrellas. I am Hermione's mother."

Harry's heart stopped. Boy, was Hermione in for a huge shock when she woke up.

…

Chapter 1 is done! ^^ I hope you liked it…It's kind of far-fetched, and the next chapter gets even more crazy, but maybe you can put up with it? ^^ Please leave me a review if you want to see more! Let me know if it's a fic worth pursuing. Dramione comes later on, I pinkie swear! ^^


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! This story got way more notice than I thought it would! ^^ Thank you, every one of you! I hope you like this next chapter! ^^**

…

It was the splitting headache that woke Hermione the next morning. Her eyes opened a crack and she moaned at the pain the light from her open windows caused her head to feel. Her eyes were throbbing and her ears were ringing. She held her blanket tightly around her as she turned over onto her side, burying her face in her pillows.

That was when she remembered the conversation from the day before, and all pain was quickly forgotten. Sitting up, she found her wand on her bedside table. She got out of bed, finding she was still fully dressed – though someone had removed her shoes for her. She slid her feet into her boots and then her wand into her boot, and she entered the bathroom in her bedroom. She rifled through the medicine before coming back with a sobriety potion and something to kill her headache. She looked at herself in the mirror and was absolutely horrified. What she wanted was a good hot shower, but what she needed to do was apologise to her parents, so she simply splashed some water on her face before leaving the room, her headache slowly going away.

"Mum?" She called as she stepped slowly down the staircase. "Dad?"

She looked around the living room, and, not finding them there, she headed for the kitchen.

"I wanted to apologise for last night," she said before she could see them. "What I did was out of hand, and –" She froze when she entered the kitchen.

Because there, at her kitchen table, seated beside her mother, holding a cup of tea, wearing the fanciest dress Hermione had ever seen, was a stranger.

"Oh," Hermione said, staring at the lady. She cleared her throat and addressed her mother. "Oh. Er…I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…Mum? Who is this?"

The lady smiled, answering before Mrs. Granger could. "Hello, Hermione," she said, placing her cup on her saucer before she stood and slowly began to cross the room. Hermione took a few involuntary steps backwards.

"_How does she know my name?"_

"I am Queen Gizelle de la Estrellas," she continued, walking until she was directly in front of Hermione. "I'm your mother."

The last thought that flickered through Hermione's mind was _"Queen?" _before everything went black.

…

"My mother…" Hermione said as she accepted a cup of tea from her mother – Mrs. Granger.

She had woken up a few moments after her black out and her father had carried her to the couch. Now she was all wrapped up in a blanket.

"You're a _queen?"_

Gizelle smiled and nodded.

"Queen of _where?" _Hermione asked. "Not of England."

Gizelle laughed. "No, silly. I'm Queen of the Wizarding World, of course!"

"That's ridiculous," Hermione replied. "The Wizarding World doesn't have a queen. They haven't for decades! Not since Voldemort, at least."

Gizelle winced at the name. Then she returned to her calm demeanour. "Exactly, dear. We went into hiding; my parents, the King and Queen at the time, and my brothers and sisters and I. I was the oldest, and therefore I was Queen as soon as I married. We were still in hiding, of course. And then I had you, and he-who-must-not-be-named found us, so I…I gave you to someone I trusted, until the time at which it would be safe to reclaim you."

Hermione had settled on the idea that this woman was insane.

"We had agreed that, if things had not gotten better," Gizelle continued, "that on your eighteenth birthday, everything would be explained to you. And that was yesterday, but you were…indisposed."

Hermione couldn't help the blush of embarrassment that was creeping up her face.

"Yeah…" she mumbled. "Sorry about that."

"Speaking of which," her father said, entering the room with a plate. "You're probably starved. Here, eat up."

"Thanks!" Hermione said, taking the plate stacked high with an omelette, bacon, hash browns and a pancake. She immediately dug in.

Gizelle watched her as if disgusted but trying to conceal it.

"Ahem," she said, folding her hands and closing her eyes in a blink that took far too long. "So, as I was saying, you are the Princess of the Wizarding World."

Hermione choked on the orange juice her father had handed her. She shook her head when she'd overcome her coughing. "Excuse me?"

"You are the Princess," she replied. "And now that he-who-must-not-be-named is gone, it is time for the royals to return. You shall be returning with us."

Hermione shook her head, setting her food on the coffee table. "Ohohohoho no. No, no, no. I _can't _be a _princess! _I'm just a normal girl! All my life I've been called names, I've been put through torture and school and other awful _un-princessly _things, and I just don't think I could do it. Plus, I don't _want _to. I mean, I've got a job at the Ministry, I'm in the Order of the Phoenix, and I just signed a lease on a flat that's going to be pretty tricky to get out of, here."

Gizelle shook her head. "You don't understand. It's time for you to get married, to go through coronation. Hermione, love, in just a few months, _you _will be _queen. _There are no other heirs. If you don't come, the royals will fall through."

"The Wizarding World has done just fine without them for years!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I just don't get it! I-I can't be queen! And _married?"_

"You've been engaged since birth," Gizelle said. "To –"

"I don't care to whom!" Hermione exclaimed. "It doesn't matter because whoever it is, I'm not marrying them! And I'm _not _going to be _queen!"_

"Hermione, be reasonable," said her mother. "The entire reason we got to have you is with the notion at hand that you would one day leave us to take over as queen."

Hermione shook her head. "But…but this isn't what I _want _to do with _my life."_

"Maybe you'll change your mind," said Gizelle, standing up. "Please, won't you just come home with me? Come to the castle, spend the week there, and, if at the end of the week you still don't want to be queen, you can leave."

Hermione sighed. "I guess that sounds…reasonable. I'm just…this is just so much to take in."

"I know," said Gizelle, smiling sympathetically and giving Hermione the most awkward hug she'd ever received. "But it gets easier, I promise. And I never could have asked for a better daughter. You're just…so absolutely perfect. And with all you've been through…I believe you'll make a perfect queen."

Hermione awkwardly patted the back of her new mother. "Thanks," she said inelegantly. She pulled away. "So-er…when are we leaving?"

Gizelle shrugged. "Well, I don't see why not now." She snapped her fingers and two house elves appeared. Hermione had a feeling she would especially dislike being royalty.

"Scotty, Minky," said Gizelle. "Go up to Master Hermione's room and pack up her things. Be back down here in ten minutes."

"No, please," Hermione said, chasing after the elves a few steps before they disappeared up the stairs. "Please, I'd much rather pack myself. And it would give me more time with mum and dad. To say goodbye."

"Oh, but Hermione, you can visit them whenever you wish," Gizelle said. "Besides, the elves are already half done, anyways. I can hear them coming back now." When they appeared at the bottom of the stairs with two large suitcases, Gizelle straightened up and lifted her chin. "Do you have everything?"

"Everything but the furniture, Mistress Gizelle," said one of the elves.

Gizelle grinned. "Good. Come along, Hermione, dear, we're leaving."

"But – Mum! Dad!" She threw her arms around them. This was all going so fast! "I don't want to leave you two."

Mrs. Granger smiled. "I know, dear. But think of it like as if you're moving out. You were getting ready to move out just yesterday, weren't you?"

"But…this is different."

"Oh, hush," said Mrs. Granger kindly. She kissed her daughter on the cheek. "It's not like we'll never see each other again, right?"

Hermione nodded. "I guess…I love you."

"We love you, too," Mr. Granger replied, pinching her cheek lightly. "Just remember to brush and floss!"

Hermione grinned and nodded. "Of course. Well…" she felt awkward in her own home as she pulled away from her parents. "Goodbye, then."

Mrs. Granger nodded. "Goodbye, dear."

And then Gizelle took Hermione by the arm, and the two disapparated.

...

They reappeared in a brightly lit courtyard. The scent of lilacs hit Hermione like a ten-ton weight and the brightness of the sun caused her headache to return. There were statues and water fountains and birdbaths and gardens sprinkled across the stretching courtyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, looking around as Gizelle took her by the arm and led her towards a castle at the other end of the courtyard.

"Very nearby Hogwarts," she replied. "This castle has been hidden away for many years. You'll be able to see the school from your bedroom window, love."

Hermione didn't say anything more as they walked towards the castle. When they were nearly to two, enormous double doors, the doors swung open, allowing them to enter.

"How did they do that?" Hermione asked curiously, watching them close as they kept on.

Gizelle chuckled. _"Magic."_

The inside of the castle was gorgeous, all marble and stained glass and shiny and clean. Hermione didn't even wanting to be standing on these floors for how beautiful they were. She could see her reflection perfectly clear in the marble.

Gizelle led her up four staircases before they turned down a corridor and continued walking.

Hermione was completely lost and out of breath by the time they made it to what was apparently their destination.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"The powder room," Gizelle replied as the doors opened, revealing the biggest "podwer room" Hermione had ever seen. The bathtub was in-ground and the size of a public swimming pool – far larger than the one in the prefects' bath. There were rows and rows of different products and potions before you finally reached the toilet or a sink. Not to mention the entire staff of maids.

"It's time to make you feel like a princess."

…

**Is it just me, or do I seem to make Gizelle seem **_**really **_**creepy? She's not supposed to be…oh well.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this! ^^ Please leave a review and let me know what you think if you've got the time!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, my gosh…" Hermione whispered, looking around. "This bathroom is _huge!"_

She laughed, twirling around once. "Look at this place! Why on Earth is it so big?"

Gizelle laughed and smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "To make you feel like a princess. Do you feel like a princess?"

Hermione nodded enthusiastically. Everything she had wished for as a child was coming true. Why had she ever thought of turning this down?

"Good," Gizelle replied. "Then let's get to it." She snapped her fingers and the staff of maids stepped forward. "Undress her and get her in the tub. She needs a good scrub down before supper."

Hermione jumped when two maids walked towards her and were immediately at it. They had her shirt and pants stripped off and she was standing in her camisole and panties when Gizelle stopped them.

Her eyes narrowed as she walked closer to Hermione.

"Hermione, love…" she said slowly. "What…is _that?" _She thrust her finger at Hermione's right arm. Hermione, fearing a bug, looked quickly, but saw only arm. Then she knew what the Queen was referring to, and she laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, that…" she said. "You like it? It's a tattoo. A boy named Dean Thomas gave it to me. He's really talented, isn't he?"

"It goes all of the way up your arm," she said, and Hermione could tell she was unhappy with the idea of Hermione having a tattoo. Hermione tried to keep the conversation light.

"I know," Hermione said. "You haven't seen anything yet. Look at this!" She turned around and tore off her camisole. Hermione's new mother cried out, as if in pain at the sight of the tattoo. A burning phoenix covered the majority of her back, breathing fire towards her right arm, which created the orange, red and purple fire that poured down her arm. Hermione was quite fond of the tattoo, even though it had originally been to simply cover the scars she had acquired from the war, mainly the scrawlings of "Mudblood" littered across her skin, but she had come to love the Phoenix. So her heart dropped to her stomach at her "mother's" next words.

"Get rid of it."

Hermione spun around, lowering her camisole. Her eyebrows lowered. "What? No! I refuse! This tattoo is a part of me!"

"Royalty don't have disgusting art all over their body," Gizelle said snootily. "I demand that you get rid of it."

Hermione's chin rose. "No. And it's completely useless to try yourself. The funny thing about magic tattoos is that, the more you try to cover them up, the more they stick. So there's no possible way to get rid of it, even if you did try to sneak it off while I was sleeping. So you're just going to have to accept it."

Gizelle glared. "Fine. You can keep the tattoo. Do you have any other secrets? Piercings, drug addictions, lost virginity?"

Hermione was appalled. "No, no, and absolutely not! I can't believe you would say that to me."

Gizelle sighed. "Whatever. Just get on with the bath."

Hermione's chin jutted out again. "Fine. I will."

Gizelle stormed out of the room and Hermione allowed the maids to continue undressing her.

"It's really okay," Hermione said. "I can bathe myself, you know."

One of the maids smiled. "It's an honour to help, really. We just want to make the new princess feel welcome."

Hermione sighed. "You probably think I'm awful after the way I spoke with her. I just want you to know that I'm really not like that. The only reason I got this tattoo was to cover up the battle scars I'm covered in. And I really can't remove the tattoo. Just…the way she's stepped in and completely tried to take over the role of mother really irritates me. I had a perfectly okay life without her, and she kind of stepped on it."

One of the maids smiled, but didn't reply.

"It's okay," Hermione said. "You guys can say whatever you want around me. I won't judge you or have you fired or anything. What are your names, anyways?"

They each introduced themselves as they helped Hermione into the bathtub, which smelled and felt amazing.

"Pleased to meet you," Hermione said. "And you can skip the whole 'Princess' thing. To be honest, it feels kind of weird. Just stick with Hermione when no one else is around."

Hermione was in heaven. While one maid was washing her hair, another was giving her a backrub, another was rubbing her feet, and another was doing her nails. When that was finished, someone else scrubbed her down completely from head to toe. Then they helped her out of the tub and onto a bed, face-down, where they continued her full body massage, rubbing lotions into her skin while someone did her toe-nails.

Then they stood her up and the dressing began. After she'd slipped on her underwear and bra, a thin, white, sleeveless chemise went over her head and stockings were pulled up just above her knees, held up by garters.

"We're dressing you for supper," said one of the maids, Agatha, the one who'd been doing most of the talking so far and seemed like she couldn't be any older than Hermione herself. "So you have to be a bit fancier than usual. We normally wouldn't dress you like this."

Hermione nodded. "I understand."

Over the stockings when a crinoline (a giant, metal hoop that stretched nearly eighteen feet around and Hermione knew was used in the Victorian era to create giant skirts), which Hermione was shocked even existed and found very uncomfortable, but it was no match for the corset.

"_Do people…even…still…wear these things?" _Hermione gasped as they continued tightening the thing. She feared she'd never be able to breathe again!

"Royalty do," Agatha replied with a smile. "Sorry."

"Ugh…"

Over the corset, which they connected to her garters, came a plain camisole. Something familiar. Over the crinoline, which continued to shock Hermione, came not one but _two _petticoats, the outer being far more beautiful than the one underneath.

Then came the gown. It was so beautiful it made Hermione tear up. It had long sleeves. Hermione figured it was because Gizelle wanted to hide her "blemish" as long as possible. But it was so, so beautiful. It was gold and bunched and had little purple bows and it was so elegant and probably the most expensive thing Hermione had ever worn.

They didn't give her much time to marvel before they whipped out her accessories. She wore several necklaces and simple stud earrings. Her shoes were about four inches high and looked like an average pair of heels except for the flap that went up her calf and buttoned around on the other side. She was given a reticule, or handbag, to match her gown and found inside a handkerchief, a fan, and a tiny bottle of perfume.

"How did they know lavender is my favourite?" she wondered aloud as the nearly completely drenched her in the stuff.

They finally slid a pair of satin gloves on her hands, and her dress was complete.

Then they had her sit down, which was quite a task with her crinoline, and they started on her hair – drying, brushing, and styling. They turned to her makeup next, and when she looked in the mirror, Hermione decided she wanted to look like this every day.

Her hair was piled high on her head and was decorated with baby rosebuds charmed to stay put. The bottom half of her hair fell down her back and over her shoulders in waves. Her makeup was so simple that she was afraid she would cry from the beauty of it all and completely destroy these nice ladies' hard work. At the very top of her head rested a delicate silver tiara.

"You are ready, Hermione," said one of the maids, who helped Hermione to her feet.

She stumbled. "Oh, merlin," Hermione said as she tried to walk in the shoes and the gown and the crinoline and the corset and everything else. "Please tell me it's just my parents I'm dining with tonight."

Agatha gave her a sympathetic smile. "Afraid not. It's also going to be your grandparents, your aunts and uncles and the parents of the man you're engaged to. Their son couldn't make it tonight."

Hermione grimaced. "And erm…who is it I'm going to marry?"

"I'm sorry, Miss," Agatha replied. "I don't know. That's confidential information."

Hermione sighed. "Thanks, anyways, Agatha. Geez, you'd think they'd give me a little more warning. Teach me some manners. Or at least some social skills… This is going to go horribly. Just wait and see."

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

Hermione cringed at the new voice and turned towards the doorway, where Gizelle stood with a forced smile on her lips.

"Well!" She said, spreading her arms and walking towards Hermione. "Look who looks like a lady." She gave Hermione a hug. "Can you walk for me?"

"Erm…sure?" Hermione replied before walking towards the door.

Gizelle sighed. "I haven't much time…Just…pick up your feet when you walk and don't slouch, okay?"

Hermione did what she said and Gizelle sighed again, this time of relief. "Good. That's a bit better. Not too noticeable. Come along, now, supper is ready."

Hermione nodded and followed Gizelle's lead in slightly lifting her gown before she walked. She turned around and blew a kiss to all of the maids. "Thank you!" She called before she left the room.

Stairs were by far the most difficult part of her journey to the dining room, especially because Gizelle would not relent on her walking. Her back had to be straight, her head tall, her shoulders back, and tripping was rewarded with a very disappointed sound that Hermione was growing tired of hearing.

"Alright," she said when they finally reached a small foyer. "Your father and I will be entering first. When your name is announced the doors will open. Come and take the seat on the right of me."

"My right or your right?" Hermione asked.

Gizelle sighed. "It doesn't matter. You're the last to come in, there will only be one seat left. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Hermione replied. Her stomach growled at the whiff of food coming from the dining room and she wished this would hurry up. "See you then."

Gizelle squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and let out a gust of breath. "Alright. Good luck."

"Ditto," she replied, really working hard at getting under Gizelle's skin.

Hermione could tell Gizelle _really _wanted to bite back at that one, but she held her tongue and left the area.

When she was gone, Hermione leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. This corset would _have _to go. And the crinoline. And the shoes. Merlin, were these clothes invented for the sole purpose of torturing women? She could hardly stand up without support! How was she going to eat? She would break herself!

And her future in-laws were in there…it felt strange, knowing she would be married soon but with no idea as to whom. It was not a good feeling.

Finally, from nowhere, Hermione heard her name being spoken. She almost didn't catch it, for instead of calling for Hermione Granger, she heard "Hermione de la Estrellas."

She didn't even have her own last name anymore. And she wasn't Hispanic as far as she could tell!

Conjuring up all of her willpower, Hermione straightened her back, threw back her shoulders, raised her head and strutted into the room. The doors opened as she approached and Hermione entered a room filled with smiling people who were all related to her in some way, but the only one she knew was Gizelle.

And her in-laws. Or should she say in-law?

Narcissa Malfoy was smiling fondly at Hermione the entire while she was walking towards her seat, the only seat remaining, and the seat to the right of Gizelle (on Gizelle's right).

Gizelle stood. "Everybody, I'd like to introduce you to my daughter, Hermione de la Estrellas, princess of the Wizarding World. She has come home!"

Amidst the cheering and happiness and Hermione's very fake smile, Hermione was cringing and groaning and letting out pterodactyl screeches that could destroy the Earth. This was not going to be fun.

**...**

**I hope you liked this! Please let me know! I'll try and update as soon as I possibly can. All of the reviews and alerts I've been getting have been absolutely wonderful! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh my gosh I can't wait to write this chapter. It's going to be so fun. I hope.**

**I'm just going to write it and skip the author's not. Got it?**

**...**

"Shall we begin the introductions?" Gizelle said proudly, holding out her hands gracefully for everyone to agree. Like someone could disagree with the look she had on her face. "Good. Hermione, dear, would you stand up for us, love?"

Hermione sighed loudly, much to Gizelle's dismay, and she struggled to her feet, offering an awkward, painful smile to everyone in the room.

Then Gizelle began the introductions. She started with Hermione's father, the king. He was a tall, handsome man with the curly brown hair, and Hermione automatically knew where she got her looks from. While Gizelle was beautiful and perfect in every way, King John had many flaws, despite being attractive. His hair was very curly and his front teeth were a little too big. Hermione understood everything completely once she'd seen him.

Next came several of her aunts, uncles, cousins, and random royal people she didn't really care about. Finally came Narcissa Malfoy.

Lucius was in Azkaban and would be for life, Hermione knew that. She also knew that Narcissa really never had a hand in anything, and she and Draco were quite a bit distanced from Mr. Malfoy their entire lives. That didn't make Hermione any more comfortable with the fact that she was engaged to the son of a death eater and the boy who had made Hogwarts life miserable for her.

"And last, but most certainly not least, is the mother of your betrothed," Gizelle said. "Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy."

Narcissa stood and curtseyed. "I apologise that my son couldn't be here this evening. He had something very important to attend to, but he sends his best wishes and the hopes that he will get to meet his future wife shortly."

Hermione grimaced. "Please tell me you have a secret other son and I will not be marrying Draco?"

Narcissa blinked, her expression unchanging.

Gizelle looked at Hermione wide-eyed and Hermione could tell she wanted to scold her, but instead she laughed delicately. "Ha! Hermione, dear, you've got quite the sense of humour!"

"I'm not kidding," Hermione said firmly. "Draco Malfoy made my life a living hell. I'm not marrying him."

Gizelle's eyes were even wider as she clasped her hands together. "Hermione, dear; perhaps we could discuss this after supper?"

Hermione looked around at all of the people around her to see that they were just as shocked as Gizelle seemed to be. She sighed. "Fine. Yes, ma'am." And she sat down as gracefully as she possibly could have.

Dinner was served, then, and no one addressed Hermione the entirety of supper, which gave her lots of practise at eating with a corset and using all of the extra utensils. She barely even noticed that the food was probably the greatest thing she'd ever tasted.

Hermione couldn't get out of the room fast enough when supper was over. The only problem was that there was no way she could have found her way back to her own room, so she _had _to wait for Gizelle. Which meant she was definitely going to get scolded tonight.

When everyone was gone, Gizelle took Hermione by the wrist and dragged her up the stairs angrily, Hermione trailing along behind, trying to keep up with her.

They entered Hermione's bedroom, and she had only a few seconds to admire it – about the size of two Hogwarts classrooms, a king sized bed with a canopy, a walk-in closet, a vanity, a balcony that overlooked Hogwarts, a small library, a dresser – before Gizelle had shoved Hermione on the bed and ordered the maids to begin readying her for bed.

"How could you embarrass me like that?" she demanded finally, turning on Hermione, who sighed as the maids began taking everything out of her hair. "Not only me, but yourself! Have you no shame? No dignity?"

"What I said was only the truth," Hermione replied stubbornly. "How can I be expected to marry someone who all my life called me awful names and on several occasions tried to kill me?"

"Times are different!" Gizelle exclaimed. Hermione's shoes were removed, which was a great relief when she was stood back up and they began working at the laces on the back of her long gown. "People are changing! He's probably not even the same person you remember. You have to marry him."

"Why?" Hermione grumbled. "Aren't there any other eligible princes in the land?"

Gizelle glared. "For your information, Draco Malfoy isn't a prince. He comes from a line of men and women who worked for the royal family. His mother was my advisor for many years. And there are no princes or princesses other than you."

"I thought princesses were supposed to marry princes?" Hermione commented as they removed her petticoats and the crinoline. Next was the camisole and, finally they started to undo her corset. She nearly collapsed from relief.

"Not in these times," Gizelle replied sadly. Then she snapped her look back at Hermione with a glare. "Which is why you _must _marry Draco Malfoy, to help continue the line. If you don't, the royals will sputter out."

"Yeah, yeah," Hermione replied. "Like you said yesterday. But aren't there any other choices?"

"Not unless you count a twelve year old boy and a forty year old woman," Gizelle said, and Hermione cringed.

They removed her stockings and chemise and bra and underwear until she was standing completely naked. They handed her clean undergarments and, when those were in place, a beautiful silk nightgown. Hermione didn't even have the chance to feel shame at being seen naked by all of these people.

She felt just like a princess.

"Do I have time to think about it?" Hermione said finally as she took a seat at her vanity so Agatha could begin to brush through her hair and plait it into a long, thick braid.

Gizelle pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine. You have until this Saturday, which is also the day you need to make the decision of whether or not you wish to be Queen. Do you understand?"

Hermione nodded.

"Good." She smiled kindly. "Goodnight, then. I'll see you in the morning."

Hermione nodded again. "Goodnight."

As soon as Gizelle was gone, Hermione dropped her face into her arms, which were rested on the vanity. _"UGGGGGHHNNNGHHH…" _She groaned in exasperation. _"I don't wanna marry Dracoooo…"_

Agatha giggled. "I'm sorry, Hermione. Is he really truly awful?"

Hermione nodded sadly. "I don't think I passed a day without him calling me Mudblood or giving me evil looks or pulling awful pranks on me. I can only imagine what being married to him would be like."

"I'm very sorry you have to go through this," Agatha said, frowning. "It's so awful that there are no other alternatives."

Hermione sighed. "It's not your fault. I just –"

But Hermione's thought was cut off by a soft tapping at her window. Agatha headed to the window and tossed aside the curtains, gasping at the owl behind the glass.

"That's Remus's owl!" Hermione exclaimed.

"He's familiar?" Agatha asked. "Shall I let him in?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. I'm probably needed. I'm the note-taker for the Order."

Agatha undid the fancy latch on the balcony and Remus's owl, Romulus, flitted inside, dropping a piece of parchment on Hermione's vanity before it zoomed right back out again.

Hermione blinked once before she began opening the letter and Agatha returned to the task of brushing Hermione's hair.

_Dear Hermione,_

_You must have forgotten, but we are currently at our meeting and we have no note-taker. I'm very sorry, but it is imperative that you be here, as we have a very special mission for you._

_We hope to see you here very soon!_

_Remus_

Hermione swore and jumped to her feet. "I'm sorry, Agatha, but I have to go."

Agatha blinked. "Go?"

Hermione nodded as she stood up, causing Agatha to drop her braid. Hermione looked around the room before she spotted a silk dressing gown on the other side of the room. She rushed over and pulled it over her night gown and shoved her feet in two of the most beautiful, comfortable, soft slippers she had ever stepped into.

"The Order of the Phoenix is in need of their note taker," Hermione said with a smile as she tried to tie her dressing gown shut. "Will you cover for me? Can I apparate from the castle?"

"There's only one place in the entire castle you can apparate from," Agatha replied, coming up behind Hermione. "Let me just finish your hair real quick and I'll take you there."

Hermione sighed a breath of relief. "Thank you so much, Agatha. I think we're going to be very good friends."

Agatha smiled. "I've never had a friend before."

Hermione grinned. "I'm honoured to be your first."

…

A few minutes later they were ready.

"A long time ago," Agatha said as she moved to one side of the room and began pushing on the wall, "when the war started, these secret tunnels were installed so us servants could get into all of the rooms in hiding and help everyone escape. They all lead to the servants quarters at the very centre of the castle, the only place anyone is able to apparate into and out of the castle."

"This is amazing," Hermione whispered as the bookshelf to the right of the wall Agatha had been pushing on moved to the side. Hermione quickly grabbed her wand and a her backpack, which must have been unpacked with her few belongings, and entered the tunnel, which closed behind her as soon as Agatha came with her and took her hands off of the wall.

Agatha smiled. "I know. I use it every day, and it never gets any less wonderful."

"How far do these tunnels go?"

"There are about fifty miles of tunnels under here," Agatha replied. "It's very easy to get lost, which is why you must _never _come down here by yourself."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, _ma'am._ I would never be able to find my way out again!"

After they'd been walking for nearly ten minutes, walking straight on and occasionally turning, they reached a very large, circular room, which could be accessed by a very ordinary door. Upon entering, Hermione found the room was filled with tables and chairs and completely surrounded by doors.

"Where do those doors go to?" She asked.

"Some go to bedrooms, others lead to more tunnels," Agatha replied as she led Hermione around the tables to a very large table at the very centre of the room. She helped Hermione onto the table.

"Apparate back here when you're ready," Agatha replied. "I'll be in that door right there, the one with the rose marking on it. Come inside and get me and I'll take you back to your room. Alright?"

"You're a saint," Hermione said with a smile. "Thank you so much."

Agatha smiled as well. "It was my pleasure. Now go, you'll be late."

Hermione nodded and with a final smile, she apparated out of the castle.

…

Hermione appeared on the doorstep of Number 12 Grimmauld Place a second and a half later. She knocked on the door.

"Wow, Hermione," said Sirius, who pulled the door open. "You sure look spiffy tonight."

Hermione sighed. "I've got a lot of explaining to do. Sorry I'm so late!"

Sirius patted her head. "It's alright, dollface. Let's just head to the dining room, then!"

Hermione nodded and followed him into the room. She was greeted by smiles and cheers.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "I stopped by your house to see how you were handling the news, and your parents told me you'd left already. Is it true? Are you really a…a…?"

"A princess?" Ron cut in.

Hermione sighed. "It's sort of a really long story."

Remus smiled at her. "I believe we can wait a while before we start the meeting. We'd all love to hear what you've got to say."

Hermione stood from the seat she had sat down in shakily and looked at everybody. "Well, for starters…I'm adopted." After the initial shock, she continued on with the full story.

"And according to Gizelle, it is my duty to marry, and I have to decide by the end of the week," she said, shaking her head.

"Who do you have to marry?" Ginny asked, sounding horrified.

Hermione closed her eyes. "Draco Malfoy."

The room fell completely silent.

Then:

"You can't marry him!"

"You're not allowed to marry a Slytherin!"

"He'll kill you in your sleep!"

"I'm so sorry; that's awful!"

Ginny's arms were around her in a second. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. Is there anything you can do?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm afraid not – not without giving up the throne."

"Then why don't you?" Ron growled.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know – I mean, I _can, _but there are so many people who depend on me to say yes…and the ministry has almost completely fallen through…it wouldn't be right. And I believe that I can really help!"

"You can," Remus said, his eyes twinkling. "Hermione, this is absolutely perfect."

She blinked. "What is?"

He stood up as well. "This Saturday, the Baron Stranger will be hosting a birthday party for his daughter. We've learned that our next guy will be attending this party, which the princess will most certainly be invited to. While you're there, you could capture him."

Hermione nodded. "I could do that. Is this my mission."

Remus nodded. "We were going to sneak you in, but this is so much easier. And I presume that your princess position would allow us to do many great things here in the Order. That is, as long as you intend on staying in the Order if you become princess?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Of course I do! There's no way I would choose anything over the order."

Remus smiled. "That's wonderful. Do you accept the mission?"

Hermione nodded. "I do."

Remus nodded. "Then I'll get you the information on the culprit. And if you're not invited to the party, which I'm sure you will be, just write to me and we'll find a way to get you there." He took a deep breath. "I think that's quite enough for now. Mrs. Weasley? You said you have a treat for everyone? Would you mind passing it out while I get together Hermione's information?"

Mrs. Weasley grinned and stood. "Of course, dear. I'll be back momentarily."

As soon as the adults had gone, Hermione was immediately surrounded by her friends: Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Oliver Wood were there in a heartbeat.

"You're really going to become a princess, Hermione?" Ginny asked. "That's so wonderful!"

"Actually, as soon as Malfoy and I are married, I will be Queen."

Harry shook his head. "That is completely stupid. You shouldn't have to do this. You don't _have _to do this. Why not just say no?"

Hermione sighed, trying to think of a way to explain this to all of them. "Would you have turned down the Prophecy and defeating Voldemort?"

"That was different –"

"How?"

"Well, I –"

"She's right, Potter," Oliver said. "There isn't a real difference. This was thrust upon her just as much as that was thrust upon you and me being the Keeper for Puddlemere United."

Harry rolled his eyes. Then he sighed. "I guess you're right…it's just…it's not fair at all!"

Hermione gave a small smile. "I know, Harry but…Gizelle made a very good point. She said the war changed people. She said that the Draco Malfoy who used to be a jerk and call me names might not be the same Draco Malfoy I'll be marrying. She says he might be completely different."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, right. Malfoy is and always will be a complete jerk."

"I don't know," Luna said thoughtfully. "Last week, as I was walking along the Cottontree River, I saw Draco all by himself. He had found an injured dog and was trying to heal his wounds. I helped him, and he said 'thank you.' The Draco Malfoy we knew at Hogwarts usually didn't say thank you when I helped him."

"See, Hermione," Neville said with a smile and giving her leg a pat. "There is hope."

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley brought in several bowls of ice cream with a promise of more to whoever wished for it, and their conversation stopped. On the outside, at least. But on the inside, Hermione was mulling over every last thing that had been spoken of. She decided that she would visit Gizelle the next day and apologise for the way she'd acted at supper. And she would accept the role of Princess and the marriage to Draco Malfoy.

After ice cream and goodbyes, Hermione closed her eyes and attempted to apparate back to where Agatha had helped her onto the table. She'd been off by about a centimetre, and tumbled off of the table and onto the floor. Wincing, she got to her feet and looked for the door with the rose marking on it, and, upon finding it, she headed to the door and pushed it open. The door creaked and Hermione stepped inside.

There were several rows of beds. In the far corner, there was a lit candle and a figure was seated before it, leaning over something. As Hermione stepped closer, she found it was Agatha embroidering something. She set it aside and gave Hermione a smile when she noticed it was her.

"Did you have a good meeting?" Agatha asked once they'd entered the tunnel. She walked out in front of Hermione with a candle in front of her to light the way.

Hermione nodded, then, realising Agatha couldn't see her, said, "Yes. Everyone was very supportive of me being princess and of my marriage to Draco Malfoy. They all knew him at some time or another, but they say he's changed. Marriage to him might not be so bad, after all."

Hermione could see Agatha smiling. "That's wonderful news! I'm so happy for you."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you. I just hope what they've said is true. I hope he's changed."

"I'm sure everything will be just fine," Agatha replied as she pushed on a wall, revealing Hermione's bedroom.

"Well, here we are, Hermione," she said, moving on ahead to light the candles in Hermione's room with her own before she turned down the bed. Hermione crawled in and Agatha set up the blankets around her, despite Hermione's protests.

"Goodnight, Hermione," Agatha said.

"Goodnight, Agatha," Hermione replied. "And thank you again for all of your help. I couldn't have done it without you."

Agatha simply smiled before she, with her candle, climbed back into the tunnel, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts.

She sighed and collapsed against the bed, her eyes shutting on their own. She didn't even have time to contemplate how she would tell Gizelle the next day of her decision, for she was out in seconds. Her last thoughts were the hopes that she wasn't making a bad decision.

…

**Nice and long for you guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Dramione next chapter, kind of! ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! ^^ Here's the next chapter for you guys, and we might finally have some Hermione-Draco contact! Won't that be lovely?**

**Know what's funny? I used the title of a song for the title of this story (the Vocaloid song Romeo and Cinderella – I don't own that, by the way, and I didn't use the meaning of the song, just the title) and it came on as I began typing the story! Weird, right?**

…

Hermione woke up the next morning completely refreshed. She smiled and stretched, looking around the room happily. She could get used to waking up to something this beautiful every morning. Yawning, she sat up and hunched forward, her hair falling around her face – she must have been tossing and turning quite a bit to break free from the tight braid Agatha had twisted in her hair – as she thought about everything that had happened the day before. She shook her head and threw her feet over the side of the bed.

"Looks like it's not a dream," she mumbled to herself as she moved to get off of the bed.

Almost as soon as her feet touched the ground, the door to her room was tapped on.

"Come in!" she called.

Agatha entered the room with a smile. "Good morning, Hermione," she said with a curtsey. She crossed the room and drew the curtains open. "Did you sleep well?"

"Excellent," Hermione replied, stretching again.

"Hungry?"

Hermione nodded with a smile on her face.

"Well, I'm here to get you ready for breakfast," she said, moving from the window to the wardrobe, where she began pulling out articles of clothing and setting them up on a dressing screen, which was very elegant and decorated with little flowers.

Hermione nodded and crossed the room, looking at the castle across the way, Hogwarts. She really missed it there. She wished she could return for her seventh year, but she supposed that wouldn't be entirely possible with her new status and everything. Maybe she could take private lessons from her teachers.

"Ready to get dressed?" Agatha called from across the room.

Hermione nodded again and crossed over to where Agatha was standing.

She was relieved to find that what she was wearing today would be very simple – no corset, no crinoline, only one petticoat. She had on her camisole and her petticoats, and then Agatha slipped her dress over her head. It was very nice, long and baggy, and this time, short sleeved. She hoped that meant there wouldn't be thousands of people at breakfast. It flowed beautifully and was a charming array of pink and purple patterns. She wore plain flats and they kept her hair down, a headband holding it back from her face.

"Thank you, Agatha," Hermione said.

"Do you think you can find your way to the dining hall by yourself?" Agatha asked, smoothing back a few pieces of hair.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I think so."

Agatha smiled. "Have a nice breakfast," she said, opening the door for Hermione.

Hermione looked around once she exited the room. Agatha laughed quietly and pointed right. Hermione gave her a grateful smile and headed down the hallway.

Once she started, she remembered the right way, and she found herself in the dining hall shortly.

"Good morning, Hermione." Gizelle was seated at the head of the table with the king, who smiled at her. Gizelle smiled and motioned to the chair beside her. "Sit. Have some breakfast."

Hermione took a seat and dug in to the plate that had already been filled.

Gizelle looked at Hermione out of the corner of her eyes. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Hermione nodded and smiled. "Yes, thank you. And…I did some thinking. I'm really sorry about the way I've been acting. My behaviour has been completely out of hand, and…I've also decided to marry Draco. And become Queen."

Gizelle's eyes widened and shone with sudden tears. A smile spread across her face. "Are you serious?" she whispered.

Hermione smiled and nodded. It was nice to see such a nice reaction from her mother. "Yes, I'm sure. I believe it's the right thing to do."

"That's great, Hermione," said the King. He smiled at her. "I'm very glad you've decided to become Queen. I think you'll be great at it."

"Thank you," Hermione said happily, and continued eating.

Now that Hermione was being more agreeable, conversation cam every easily to the three of them. They covered Hermione's school year and they sympathised when she told them about Draco and why she reacted to the news of her engagement the way she did. They told her that they believed him to have changed.

"Oh, Hermione," Gizelle said when she was about to head back to her room.

"Yes?" Hermione replied, turning back to her mother with a smile.

"You've received an invitation to the birthday party for the Baron Stranger's daughter. I think it's a perfect first public appearance."

Hermione nodded. "I agree. I'll go."

Gizelle smiled. "Good. Well, in that case, would you follow your father and me?"

Hermione nodded and Gizelle and the King stood up and walked out of the room. Hermione followed a little bit behind them down several hallways and down more than a few staircases. They were far beneath the Earth before they stopped and came to a heavily locked door. The King took the key on a chain around his neck and unlocked one of the large locks, and the Queen did the same with her own key.

The door opened on its own, and the three entered.

Hermione gasped in awe. The room was filled from top to bottom with shelves holding treasures of all kinds: crowns and jewels and chests most likely filled with more and more treasures.

The King and Queen headed to the centre of the room, Hermione following absently behind them, and they approached a large display case. The two placed their keys against the glass, and it quickly dissolved, allowing the King to reach in and pick up a long gold chain, at the end of which was a key similar to the ones the King and Queen were wearing. The King placed it around Hermione's neck.

"This is the Royal Key made especially for you, Hermione," Gizelle explained. "It was made for you the day you were born. With it, you will have the power to rule the Wizarding World. You must never go without wearing it. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, the results would be disastrous."

Hermione nodded and picked up the key, which rested against her ribcage. It was beautiful – made of gold and encrusted in all sorts of jewels. The top of it was a whole mess of curls, the 2-D version of Hermione's hair. She smiled at it.

"Thank you," she said.

"Remember, Hermione," said the King. "Being the Queen will be a great responsibility."

Hermione nodded. "I understand."

"You will begin taking classes tomorrow on how to be a Queen," said Gizelle. "And you will be ready for your coronation at the end of next month. Do you understand?"

Hermione nodded. They seemed to ask her that a lot. "I'm a very quick learner."

"We know," said Gizelle. "Now, it's time for you to go get changed into something nicer. I'll tell Agatha what to dress you in. You've got a birthday party to attend."

…

Hermione tried her best to twirl in front of the mirror, which was incredibly difficult with all of the stuff she was wearing – again. The shoes were smaller this time, at least – great for dancing. And because the party was a masquerade, her dress had a theme – themes were always fun. She was a butterfly – basically the most stereotypical masquerade theme, but she looked pretty, anyways. Her dress was big and flashy and based on the monarch butterfly, so it was black, white and orange. Thankfully it didn't have wings, but the mask was basically a pair of butterfly wings. Her hair was piled high and decorated with pretty little strings of pearls. She looked great by the time she was finished. Even though she couldn't breathe very well.

"Thank you, Agatha," she said when she was finally finished.

"Not a problem," Agatha replied with a smile. "Now, your mother wishes to speak with you before you leave. She'll be here momentarily. Is there anything else you need before I leave?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't think so…except…would you like to come with me?"

Agatha's blue eyes opened wide and she shook her head fearfully. "No, thank you, madam. I couldn't. Parties are only for nobles and royals – I could never!"

"Sure you could," Hermione replied with a smile. "I'll make them."

Agatha shook her head. "No, thank you," she repeated. "Maybe…maybe next time."

"Oh, alright," Hermione replied.

"Goodbye!" She ran out the door before Hermione even had a chance to say another word.

Hermione shrugged and sat down at her vanity. A tapping came at her window while she was fiddling with her key. She quickly let Romulus in and watched as he zipped out of the window.

She was just about to read her letter when her mother tapped at the door.

"May I come in?" she called through the heavy wood.

"In a second!" Hermione called, frantically reaching for the reticule Agatha had given her. She quickly folded up the paper and shoved it inside, then sat down at her vanity as if she'd never moved. "Okay!"

Gizelle entered and smiled at her daughter. "You look lovely."

Hermione bowed her head in thanks.

"I just wanted to tell you a few things before you head off to the party," she said. "First of all, there will be a lot of dancing involved. Dance with as many people as you can; try to get on everyone's good sides."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

"And I know you probably haven't had much instruction, but when supper is served, eat very gracefully, never talk with food in your mouth, and don't spill a drop. Cut your food, set down your knife and then eat. Sit up perfectly straight and never hunch. Keep your hands and elbows off of the table."

Hermione grinned. "Don't worry. I'll be perfectly poised."

Gizelle let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, come along. You'll be entering through the floo."

The floo seemed like a strange way to enter such a fancy party, but when she saw, she understood. The fireplace that was behind a curtain Hermione hadn't understood before was the most elegant part of the entire room. Three Hagrids could have stood on top of each other, and maybe eight across. It was enormous, and the floo powder looked as if it were made of pixie dust.

"Alright, just say 'Baron Stranger's when you're ready," Gizelle said. "Try to leave within the next fifteen minutes. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hermione nodded and smiled and Gizelle left her room. When she was gone, Hermione pulled out the letter Romulus had brought her.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm assuming since you haven't told me otherwise that you're going to be attending the party, so I have some more information for you. Attached is a photograph of the Death Eater you are after. He will be going as a dragon, and we've done our research – he's the only one. He is there to steal some jewels the Baron will have on display – these jewels will aid the remaining Death Eaters in their plans to take over._

_He definitely won't expect a Princess to come after him, but try and be discreet. I wouldn't want to cause you any unnecessary trouble._

_Good luck. There will be Order guards surrounding the outside of the Baron's manor, and we'll help you once you get him outside._

_Remus_

Hermione nodded and smiled. She then took a handful of floo powder, stepped into the floo and said the words.

…

When she stepped out of the floo, her name was announced.

"Princess Hermione de la Estrellas," a formal voice announced. Hermione smiled and curtseyed until the clapping stopped, and she entered the room.

She had feared this would be an awkward experience – that she would be standing by herself at the refreshment table the whole time, but she had been wrong. Everybody seemed to want to talk to her. Everyone wanted to dance with her, and she could deny no one.

The first person she danced with was a very agreeable man, but who had the dancing skills of a monkey. Her feet were killing her by the time the song was over and she was approached by another man. He was very handsome, she could tell, despite the fact that his face was half covered with a mask she believed was meant to resemble a hippogriff – but one could never be too sure. She had danced with five people when she spotted the dragon man, standing off to the side, speaking with the Baron's daughter, the birthday girl. She didn't want to make a scene, but she figured when she had an opening, she would take it.

…

Draco watched Hermione dancing around the room with all of those men. He felt a little betrayed, him being her fiancé and all, but he couldn't really blame her. She had no idea he was here, and he decided he intended on keeping it that way. It would be more fun if she didn't know he was here. He could freak her out when he visited her tomorrow by repeating something she said tonight. Then she'd probably get all embarrassed.

Draco chuckled to himself. He'd always liked it when she was embarrassed. In fact, he liked it when she was anything: happy, angry, embarrassed, smug…never sad, though. Even though, most of the time, he was the cause of her being upset, he didn't really like to see it.

But if any of his friends – or worse, his father – were to find out that he had a crush on the smartest Mudblood – who he always knew wasn't _actually _a Mudblood and was _actually_ royalty and his fiancée – then he would be _done for_. His reputation would be _ruined. _

It was an easy thing to keep to himself, actually. Unlike Potter, who tried to hide his feelings for Cho Chand and failed, or Weasley, whose feelings were so evident half of the school wanted to punch him in the mouth in hopes that he would come out and say that he loved Granger – even though Draco would have punched him in the mouth for fancying the same girl as he did – Draco was able to keep it from everyone his entire time in Hogwarts.

Now he would be allowed to reveal it. In fact, he would have to say he liked her even if he didn't. Royal weddings were very serious, and if it got out that he didn't love her, there would be an uproar.

He watched her all through supper, and was surprised at how well she did eating in public. He wondered how she had trained herself so quickly. Everyone was taken with her, and the birthday toast also went out to their new princess.

When supper was over, Draco took his chance to slip in and take the first dance after supper. He hoped she hadn't already received an invitation to sit with someone else – if that were the case, than he'd just reveal his identity and force her to sit with him. If not, she wouldn't know it was him until the next day, when he planned on revealing that he'd been the one to blow her away with his superb dancing skills and amazing wit and charm. He chuckled to himself just before he approached her.

She watched him as he bowed and held out his hand. "Would you like to dance?"

Hermione smiled pleasantly at him, though he could tell she really didn't want to do any more dancing. Something had caught her attention – a man dressed in a dragon mask, it seemed – and it was kind of ticking Draco off.

"Of course," Hermione replied. "I'd love to dance."

When the song started up, Hermione took his hand and placed the other gently on his shoulder. Draco placed a hand on her waist and they began.

She smelled wonderful – even better than he'd always imagined. And up this close, he could see just how beautiful she really was. She had smooth, smooth skin, despite the few freckles sprinkled across her nose, and her teeth and hair had really improved over the years. Her eyes were magnificent, and when she spoke, Draco remembered why he fell in love with her from the start.

"So, you're a…fish?" she said finally.

Draco chuckled. "A hippocampus, actually. Sort of a…mythical sea-horse."

He could almost see her brow furrowing beneath her mask. "I thought the hippocampus was a part of the brain…"

"It is," Draco replied. "It's one of those words."

"A homonym," Hermione said.

"That's the one," Draco said. He smiled. "And you're a butterfly."

Hermione shrugged and Draco dipped her back along with the other dancers. When he pulled her back, closer than before, he looked into her eyes, wondering if she could recognise him. "The Japanese say that the butterfly represents the personification of a person's soul."

"Is that what they say?" Hermione replied, unsure why she was whispering.

Draco smiled quickly before twirling her around and they continued their 1-2-3, 1-2-3. "That's what they say."

Hermione's eyes caught the dragon-man again. He was looking around shadily, and there was no mistaking the lump in his pocket – he had the jewels. And while she was having an excellent time with this mysterious man, she knew it was almost time to leave him. It was getting very late, anyways.

"Something the matter?" the mysterious man asked, and Hermione returned her look to his eyes.

"No…" she replied absently, looking back towards the dragon-man, who was quickly heading for the door. "No, but I must apologise – I have to go."

"Go?" Draco asked, a little surprised. "But the party isn't over yet."

"I know, I know," Hermione replied. "But I really must be going."

She let go of him and turned to flee towards the door. She felt something get caught on the man's sleeve, but she tugged – jewellery could be replaced, and she moved quickly but gracefully through the crowd.

When the man began calling her back to him, she shook her head with a quick, "Sorry!" and exited. She apologised that she had to leave early to the Baron and slipped off before he had the chance to say goodbye.

Once she was outside, she kicked off her shoes and charged after the Dragon man, who had taken off at a full-on sprint. Hermione knew that if he got far enough away, he could apparate, so she had to catch him before the gates, where the other Order members were waiting for her.

It was very difficult to run in a dress, but she was glad for it in the end. Once she'd gotten close enough, the Death Eater stepped on her dress and, though it was a shame it was torn, he tripped, and it was well worth it. She tackled him and took the jewels from his pocket, then walked him out to the other order members, who whisked him off to Azkaban.

She returned the jewels to the Baron, who praised her mercilessly until she left through the floo, hoping she could avoid Gizelle. Explaining her missing shoes and the tear in her dress was not something she wanted to do tonight. After all of the dancing, the only thing she could think about doing was soaking her feet and going to sleep.

…

**Whoo! That was a doozy! My fingers are starting to cramp from so much typing!**

**Well, I'll have a drawing of Hermione's dress up tonight. (I don't think I ever told you…on my profile I have pictures of the gowns Hermione's wearing through this story. Also, there's a link to my fanfiction tumblr on my profile as well. I send out updates and alerts and pictures on there. I also submit other peoples' fanfiction and fanart…I just started it today, so would you mind following me? I follow back! Like I said, the link is on my profile, but my URL is domino-tyler-fanfiction. I hope you like it!)**

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**Anyways, I sincerely hope you enjoyed my chapter~! ^^**


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione woke up the next morning thoroughly refreshed. There was nothing like a night of dancing followed by the capture of a Death Eater to send a girl into a sleep deep enough that she slept until the sun had risen. She yawned and sat up, peering around the room. Empty. Maybe the servants had off on Sundays?

She got out of bed and slipped on her slippers and her dressing gown, sliding across the room on aching feet to draw open the curtains. Wedged in the door opening to her balcony was a piece of parchment. She opened the door, causing the parchment to drop to the ground. She knelt and picked it up before stepping out onto the balcony.

Hermione arrived back at the castle the night before, greeted by Gizelle, who, if she'd noticed the tears in her dress and her missing shoes, didn't comment and simply escorted Hermione to her bedroom after inquiring as to how well the evening went. She had fallen asleep as soon as Agatha had dressed her up for bed and had her hair braided tightly and neatly. This parchment could have come at any time from then on and she never would have known.

She untied the ribbon keeping it closed and unrolled the parchment, discovering Remus's handwriting scrawled across the paper.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm afraid there is a sudden risk for your safety, and you most likely will not be on any more missions until this problem is solved._

_Last night, as we escorted the Death Eater, a man named Steven Marx, to Azkaban, he revealed a titbit of information very important to our cause. Amongst the laughter of a lunatic and other not so pleasant things, the man revealed to us something along the lines of the fact that you wouldn't be princess for much longer, as Bellatrix would soon take your place as leader._

_There will be an Order meeting tonight around six, the subject of which will mainly be ideas for your protection and the induction of a new member, who I am confident will make a suitable body guard for you._

_Until then, stay safe._

_Yours truly,_

_Remus Lupin_

Hermione shivered and stepped back inside, closing and locking the door of the balcony. She looked around the room, suddenly feeling that it was far too big for her liking. Someone could be hiding in here and she would never know. She shook her head. She was overreacting.

Nevertheless, when Agatha entered from behind the wall, Hermione jumped nearly a foot in the air out of fright and dropped her letter.

Agatha giggled. "Someone's jumpy this morning. I'm just here to get you ready for the day. It's your free day. You slept through breakfast. Shall I have cook send something up for you?"

Though Hermione had absolutely no appetite, she had to keep up a normal front. So she smiled and nodded. "Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you very much."

Agatha curtseyed and turned to the door, where she rang a bell. Soon, a voice could be heard all around the room, though Hermione couldn't seem to pinpoint the location from which the sound was coming from.

"Yes?"

"Cook?" Agatha said to the ceiling. "It's Agatha. Could you send up a plate of breakfast to the Princess's room?"

"Of course. It will be there as fast as we can get it to you."

"No hurry," Hermione called, and Agatha rang the bell again.

"If you ever need anything," Agatha said, "just ring that bell and ask for someone. Assistance is always looking to help."

Hermione nodded. "I'll have to remember that."

Agatha moved to the wardrobe and began searching for something for Hermione to wear.

"Sunday's a generally days where we accept visitors," Agatha said as she worked, "so you'll have to wear something a bit fancier. But it's still casual, and you don't have to wear the crinoline."

"Corset?" Hermione asked.

Agatha grimaced. "Afraid so."

Hermione sighed. "I guess I should probably get used to it."

Agatha laughed. "I suppose so."

She pulled out Hermione's outfit for the day – a long, flowing white dress with long pink sleeves and a sheer shawl. Her slippers were casual and it wasn't like it mattered – the dress was floor-length and covered her feet.

Agatha helped her into her clothing and did her hair in an elegant twist, then left while Hermione enjoyed her breakfast. Hermione would have felt much more comfortable with some company, but she didn't want to pull Agatha from her work, so she let her be and used the time alone for a chance to write a reply to Remus.

She also wrote letters for her parents, Harry, Ron, and Ginny. And, since she was on a roll, she wrote to Viktor Krum and several other friends. She was having so much fun with her writing that she was sure she would have ended up writing a letter to Draco Malfoy had Agatha not interrupted.

"Have you finished your breakfast, ma'am?"

Hermione had barely touched it, but she nodded. "Yeah, I'm done."

Agatha pointed her wand at it and the plate disappeared. "Are those letters?"

Hermione nodded. "But I haven't my own owl."

Agatha smiled. "The castle has an owlry. I'll lead you to it, if you'd like. And then the Queen requests your presence in her study for Queen and Princess Lessons."

Hermione nodded and allowed Agatha to lead her down the hall and up a few staircases. "I thought you said that Sundays are my free-day?"

Agatha smiled. "Sorry. Queen's orders trump all."

Hermione sighed. "I guess I can understand that."

They came to a sprawling room that smelled…interesting…and was filled to the very brim with owls. Hermione managed to send each of her letters in only a few minutes, as the owls were very obedient, and then Agatha led her back downstairs to the Queen's study.

Hermione's lessons consisted of posture, dinner etiquette, dancing, and the history of Wizarding Royalty.

Finally, though, came something that Hermione really enjoyed. Gizelle led her to Hermione's new favourite room in the whole entire house – the library. Gizelle summoned a book and handed it across to Hermione. It was a moderate tome – Hermione figured she could have it finished by that evening.

"This is your assignment until next Sunday," Gizelle said.

"I have a _week _to read this?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"I can extend the date, if you wish," Gizelle replied, eyebrows raised.

"No, no!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's not the problem. I could have this finished in a day."

Gizelle smiled a slow smile that crept across her face and showed no real emotion. "Well, this room is open to you for your personal use…you may read anything you wish until our next lesson on Sunday."

Hermione's heart soared. "Thank you very much!"

Gizelle's strange smile returned and she nodded before leaving the library.

Hermione looked down at the book once Gizelle had left. It was a history of each member of the royal family all of the way back to Merlin, past the founders of Hogwarts, who each had their own biography. Hermione was certain there were many interesting things she could learn from this library, things that she hadn't been allowed to read at Hogwarts. She could feel her mind tingling in anticipation, and she left the library for a suitable location to ravenously devour her new treasure.

She found the perfect scene in a small, very empty and seemingly untouched sitting room. The theme colours were baby blue and a soft, pale yellow. She entered the room and took a seat in an armchair, pulling her feet up onto the chair with her, which was no easy feat with her corset and petticoats, but she still managed. Once she was settled, she was delighted to see that the fireplace before her had lit itself and was casting a warm, comfortable glow around the room. There was a very old fashioned radio at her elbow, which she clicked on and turned to a station that played very smooth, relaxing music, and she opened her book to loose herself in something she missed very much – words.

Several hours later, she heard a sound and snapped to her senses. Somewhere on page 234 she had drifted off to sleep and the radio had turned to static. Looking around, she feared that she may have slept through the Order meeting and she stood to peer out the window to try and gauge the time.

She let out a squeak. _There was someone climbing along the balcony._

The person looked up at her and smiled a cruel smile, and she recognised him as the Dragon Man from the night before.

Pulling her wand from her skirts, she pointed it out the window and aimed.

The man fell, not too far, but enough to stun him and send him running off.

"What's got your attention?"

Hermione gasped and spun around violently, nearly tripping. It was only Agatha.

"There was a Death Eater climbing onto the balcony!" Hermione exclaimed.

The colour drained from Agatha's face.

"I sent him running," Hermione assured. "But we'd best tell the King and Queen."

Agatha nodded. "Yes. Of course." She shook her head, composing herself. "I'll tell them as soon as I leave here. But I came here for a reason. There is a man calling for you."

Hermione was unfamiliar with the phrase and crinkled her forehead.

Agatha smiled. "He wishes to seek an audience for you."

Hermione closed her eyes and nodded. She waved to Agatha and opened her eyes. "Yes. Of course. Send him in."

Agatha nodded and curtseyed slightly before she stepped out. Hermione returned to the window, just to be sure the man was still fleeing. He was.

"Excuse me?"

Hermione froze. She knew that voice. She'd heard it at the ball the night before. She turned slowly, shocked to see who was standing in the doorway.

A man holding her shoes in one hand and her key in the other.

"Oh, my gosh!" Hermione exclaimed. She hadn't even realised that she'd lost it! Only a handful of days and she was already turning out to be an irresponsible leader. "Thank you so much! You're my saviour! You're…" She blinked. "You're Draco Malfoy."

He winked. "At your service."

"You were the mystery man from the masquerade last night?" Hermione asked once she'd securely fastened her necklace around her neck. "Why didn't you tell me it was you?"

Draco shrugged. "You never asked."

That was true. Hermione shook her head. She looked Draco in the eyes. "They say you've changed."

He shrugged. "That's a matter of opinion, but yes, I'd say I've made a few personal changes since the end of the war."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly say the war has ended."

Draco shrugged. "That, again, is simply a matter of opinion." He paused. "May I come in?"

"Perhaps. What's the time?"

"Quarter after five," Draco replied. "Why? Have you somewhere to be?"

"I do, actually," she replied. "And I'll need to be leaving now. Thank you very much for returning to me my shoes and my key. I'm so grateful; it would have been disastrous for it to be found by anyone else. But I truly have to go –"

"To the Order meeting, am I correct?"

Hermione froze. "That is correct. How did you know?"

Draco grinned. "Because I'm headed there myself."

Hermione's eyes widened. _The new induction…_

"_You're _being inducted?" Hermione asked incredulously.

Draco smirked. "Don't act so surprised. Like they said – I've changed."

Hermione raised her chin defiantly. "That's a matter of opinion."

Draco laughed. "I'll escort you to the meeting, if you'd like. That way you won't have to sneak out. I can tell your parents that you're going to be visiting with me. They'll be thrilled, I'm sure, to know that we are getting along. Don't you agree?"

Hermione sighed, hating to admit that he was making sense. Of course, she could sneak out, but if she missed supper and had no excuse, she would have just that – no excuse. Sure she could come up with one, but this would make everything ten times easier.

"Fine," Hermione replied. "You go tell my parents that you're taking me to supper. I'm going to go and get my things for the Order. Meet me at the main entrance."

Draco grinned somewhat sarcastically. If one could even grin sarcastically. "Of course. As you wish."

And Hermione dashed from the room.

…

**Hello, dear readers! I hope you liked this! ^^**

**I'll have the drawings for Hermione's dress up on my profile and my tumblr probably by tomorrow…**

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	7. Chapter 7

Hermione met Draco about ten minutes later, after having Agatha dress her in something far simpler, removing her corset and giving her something short sleeved. The gown she now wore was white a flowy and form-fitting and fringed in gold. It was very beautiful.

Draco's attention was fixed on Hermione's arm. He trailed up to her shoulder with his eyes.

"Where does it lead?" he asked out of pure curiosity.

"If we're getting married, you'll find out soon enough, now, won't you?" Hermione replied, walking through the door held open for her by one of the guards. "Now, let's go, I don't want to be late again."

Draco nodded and took Hermione's arm, slowing her a great deal.

After a few moments of strolling, Hermione growled. "We're never going to get there!" she exclaimed. "Why are we walking so slowly?"

"Don't look now," Draco replied softly, "but your parents are watching through their window."

Hermione tried to mask her look of shock. She was mostly shocked that she hadn't thought of that – of course they'd be watching! She only nodded and they continued on at their steady pace, until they finally came to a place where they were out of sight of the castle, at which point they could apparate.

Hermione was very well greeted. She had to leave Draco at the door when Ginny yanked her inside and began to gush over her pretty new dress. Then she had Harry and Ron asking her how she was and how they were treating her and Sirius was mock bowing her and asking to be knighted, and Mrs. Weasley was wondering if the castle needed help with the cooking because she didn't want Hermione to have to miss out too much on things that reminded her of home.

Draco watched from the side awkwardly, not really accepted but not really excluded, either. People nodded to him and Fleur Delacour offered to take his jacket. He tried to be friendly, which was no easy task, as he was still training himself in not being a grumpy, cold prick. Sometimes he felt like he needed to offer up a sarcastic comment, but then he remembered that his father was gone and what would his mother think and he just swallowed it, keeping it to himself.

Finally, Remus arrived and led everyone to the dining room, where the meeting commenced.

It started with Draco's induction. Remus took him into his office for the real induction: questions, paperwork and whatnot. Then he took him out to the dining room for Sirius's induction, which he'd carried on and added to since Dumbledore was around – Dumbledore would have simply had him sign a charmed piece of parchment, which they pulled out for him and allowed him to sign.

Then, Sirius's additions to the induction.

"Alright," Sirius said, entering the room with a big bowl of…

"What is that?" Draco asked, wrinkling his nose. It wasn't gross, but it wasn't much fun to look at, either. At least to him it wasn't.

"This is my very own invention," Sirius replied with a grin. "This is sort of a test of endurance."

"It's really not," Hermione said from where she was reviewing her previous notes and Ginny was experimenting with her hair.

"It is," Sirius said defiantly. He clapped his hands. "Alright. Just put your hands in the bowl."

Draco was wary. "That's it?"

"That's it!" Sirius replied. "If you can keep them in for at least 30 seconds, you're going to get some serious respect around here."

"As long as you beat Ron's three and a half seconds, you're going to get respect," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

Draco, who had been looking at the speaking Harry from the corner of his eyes, returned his eyes to the bowl before him and sighed. "Well, alright."

Cautiously, fingers spread wide, his silver snake ring shimmering on his finger, he placed his hands in the bowl.

Immediately he was taken from the room. It was first year and it was the first time he'd ever been turned down by a girl.

Now it was second year, the first time he'd tripped in the hallways. Then third year, first time a teacher had busted in on him snogging a girl in a closet, when he'd been punched in the nose by Granger, when he had to explain to Pomfrey why he had a broken nose. Fourth year, he was caught looking at a picture of Hermione that had fallen out of Ron's trunk. Fifth, year he was caught with the same picture multiple times and Bellatrix teased him, aware of his secret crush. Sixth year, he was caught crying multiple times, one time by Granger, who had tried to comfort him, but he'd just pushed her away (very embarrassed). Seventh year, caught over and over with the pictures of Granger, confronted by Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, Pansy, everyone. Everyone knew by then. The endless teasing. Suddenly everything was all over the place. His father humiliating him when he spoke out, his Aunt humiliating him, his many, many humiliations…

He was transported back to the dining room, greeted by Sirius Black's laughter.

"You don't have to torture yourself, mate!" he said, still laughing.

"You made it a whole minute!" Hermione exclaimed, eyes wide. "That's a new record!"

"What…" Draco shook his head. "Was that?"

"That was Embarrassment Serum," Sirius said, looking at the bowl fondly before he put a glass cover over the top and lifted it up and into his arms. "It causes you to relive your most embarrassing moments. It started out as something we were going to use for the Order. It took you to all of your most terrible moments in life. But then it started causing people to go insane from the trauma, and after what happened to the Longbottoms by Bellatrix we really didn't want to be the cause of any trauma on _any _side, so I transformed it into this!"

Draco shook his head. "That's cruel."

"Why?" Sirius replied. "See anything good?"

Draco glared and wiped off his forehead, finding that he had been sweating quite a bit. "You might think so, but I don't exactly care to share."

Sirius smirked and Remus clapped his hands. "Alright, Sirius, I've let you have your fun. It's time to get to the meeting. We've got quite a bit to discuss tonight and I don't want to get her highness in trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Hermione replied, looking up from her paper. "The King and Queen think I'm dining with Malfoy tonight. As long as he's with me when I return, they won't care when I return."

"Very good thinking," Remus replied. "You should use that to your advantage." He took a deep breath. "Alright. So our first concern is that it appears the Death Eaters, now that they have all but overthrown the ministry, are going to attempt to rid Hermione of her throne before she is even crowned Queen."

Hermione kept her eyes trained firmly on her notes, knowing very well that everyone was watching her, however much they may have been attempting to conceal it.

"I'd like to report that there was an attempt on my life earlier today," Hermione said, moving her eyes from her paper to Remus and nowhere in between. "I caught a man climbing up the side of one of the towers I was in."

Remus nodded. "We'll have to increase the security tenfold if they were able to break through the complicated magic on that castle. Thank you for telling me."

Hermione glanced back down and scribbled "Increase security tenfold."

"Along with increasing the spells and other magic on the castle," Remus continued, "we've been discussing adding body guards. Preferably trusted Aurors."

"I volunteer," Harry said. "My excuse for leaving my Auror training will be on the job training."

Remus nodded. "Very good. Anyone else?"

"Count us in!" Fred and George exclaimed.

"Even though I'm blind in this eye," Fred said.

"And I'm missing this ear," George continued.

"We're the perfect team," they finished together.

"Of course," Remus said with a grin.

"I'm in," Oliver Wood said.

"As am I," added Neville.

In the end, they had a handful more people, including Charlie, Bill, Luna, Ginny, and they were awaiting return owls from several Aurors.

"No, not you, Draco," Remus said, taking the pen from his hand when he moved to sign up. Remus's eyes were twinkling. "I've got a very special job for. Come; let us discuss it in private."

Draco glanced at Hermione, who was pointedly avoiding looking at him, as he straightened up and nodded. "Okay."

Remus led him across the hallway to his office. He sat down behind his desk and motioned to the chair in front of it. "Take a seat," he said politely.

"Thank you," Draco replied, sitting quite awkwardly.

Remus folded his hands and placed them on his desk. "I'm sure you can probably guess why I called you in here."

Draco shook his head and shrugged. "Girl troubles?"

Remus leaned back, laughing. "No, not exactly. Like I said, I have a special mission for you."

"Alright," Draco replied, also leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. "I'm sure I'll be happy to oblige. What is it?"

"I would like you to be Hermione Granger's personal bodyguard."

Draco blanked.

"Come again?"

…

**Hi, guys! ^^**

**So, you all know I **_**love **_**writing this story, right? All of my stories. I love writing for you guys.**

**But I recently got a job that's going to be pretty time consuming, and school will be starting up soon…I'm not sure how often I'm going to be update.**

**Just know that I **_**will not stop updating. **_**This story will eventually be completed. I don't know how far apart the updates will be, but they will be.**

**Don't forget me! Au revoir!**

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	8. Chapter 8

Well, that was an unacceptably long hiatus, wasn't it? Something is severely wrong with me. Here's a juicy chapter to make up for it.

* * *

Remus led him across the hallway to his office. He sat down behind his desk and motioned to the chair in front of it. "Take a seat," he said politely.  
"Thank you," Draco replied, sitting quite awkwardly.  
Remus folded his hands and placed them on his desk. "I'm sure you can probably guess why I called you in here."  
Draco shook his head and shrugged. "Girl troubles?"  
Remus leaned back, laughing. "No, not exactly. Like I said, I have a special mission for you."  
"Alright," Draco replied, also leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. "I'm sure I'll be happy to oblige. What is it?"  
"I would like you to be Hermione Granger's personal bodyguard."  
Draco blanked.  
"Come again?"

"Her personal bodyguard," Remus replied. "You plan on moving into the castle within the next handful of days, correct?"  
"Well, yes, but-"  
"Then you're the perfect man for the job," Remus interrupted. It was clear he was not going to take no for an answer, and Draco saw no positive results coming out of an argument, so he tried to accept his fate.  
"It won't be very difficult," Remus continued when Draco said nothing for a time. "You simply must make sure no ill thing becomes of Miss Granger. Protect her, watch out for her. Make sure no one comes near enough to cause any sort of harm."  
"But I won't be allowed her while she's sleeping or doing certain things," Draco protested. "What then?"  
"Charms and spells and whatever else you can think of," Remus replied. "She's your responsibility. You are our only hope for keeping a close, personal eye on the girl."  
Draco shook his head, unable to keep from the futile argument. "She's not going to want me around her constantly. I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but she sort of hates me."  
Remus smiled softly. "She was talking about you the other night and how she heard you've changed. She's willing to give you a chance if you give her one and prove you're different from who you were back during your Hogwarts days. Have you changed, Mr. Malfoy?"  
Draco looked down into his lap. "I'm trying to. And I guess, if it's for her, I'll prove it. I accept this mission."  
Remus grinned. "Very good. Then will you send her in please? I think it'd be best for us to break the news to her as gently as we can."  
Draco nodded and stood, exiting the room after an awkward moment of standing, a bit unsure of what words he should leave the man with before deciding to not say anything, thus making his exit seem even more artless than it might have been if he'd said something.  
Hermione was still seated in the dining room with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Fred and George, and Oliver. The adults had moved out of the room and were cracking open some form of alcohol or another. Draco wouldn't have minded something to take off the edge of this mission, but he restrained himself. He came up behind Hermione, who was playing a card game with her friends, laughing at something Neville had just said.  
"Mr. Lupin would like to see you, Granger," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, which went rigid under his touch. He removed it quickly.  
"What does he need?" she asked curiously. "What did he say to you?"  
Draco shook his head. "He'll break it to you better than I ever could. Go on." He jerked his chin in the direction of Lupin's office.  
She stood up and placed her cards face down on the table. She smoothed down her dress and turned around to face Draco. "Would you mind playing my hand until I get back? I don't want to lose."  
She didn't give much of a chance for him to respond before she rushed off towards Remus's office.  
Draco slowly took her seat and picked up her cards. He rarely played cards.  
"What are you playing?" he asked as he tried to remember the rules to the few card games he'd played in his life.  
"It's a muggle game that Hermione and Harry taught us," said Luna kindly when no one else was being civil enough to answer him. "It's quite simple, really. It's called 'Go Fish.'"  
He caught on quickly after they explained the rules, and he was on a roll by the time Hermione returned with Remus. She was breathing heavily and looked as though she had just seen a ghost.  
"I'm-so-thrilled," she said between high-pitched gasps for air. "Thank you so much for taking this job."  
Draco felt sort of bad, knowing that him being her bodyguard was freaking her out so much. He held out her card pairs. "You won."  
Ron put down his deck and stood up, circling the table to place his hands on her shoulders. "Hermione? What's wrong? Are you crying?"  
She's crying? Draco swore internally.  
She shook her head vehemently. "No, no, I'm fine," she said, her hand resting against her ribs, like she was suffocating. "I'm fine, really. Shall we continue with the meeting?"  
Draco watched her carefully. She didn't look horrified - just a little shocked, and sort of like the reigns of her life were being taken away from her inch by inch and she had absolutely no way of stopping it.  
Of course, that was what was happening, in the figurative sense, but still.  
Draco felt kind of bad. He was helping the process of taking away her freedom.

A while later, Draco was downstairs with Hermione and the others. The adults had all headed out, all except Sirius and Remus, who lived there, and they were all having a conversation over Firewhiskey, which had never tasted so great to Draco, and he may have had quite a bit more than he'd originally planned.  
Hermione, Ginny and Luna had headed off into one corner and were discussing all of the fashion choices Hermione had. The boys were all seated together as well, discussing their own respective girlfriends - Harry was with Ginny, Ron was with Lavender, Neville was with Luna, Oliver had a girl back home, Fred and George were both dating, and Seamus and Dean were both single. Conversation turned to Draco and Hermione's wedding.  
"When's it set for, mate?" Harry asked, taking a swig from his bottle.  
"End of the month," Draco replied absently. "And then I'll never have to hear about china patterns and bridesmaid dresses ever again."  
Ron snorted. "You did the wedding plan?"  
"My mother tried to keep me involved," he replied.  
"You sure are lucky, mate," Seamus said, taking a long swig of his firewhiskey. "Pretty sure there isn't a single guy here who didn't think about having Hermione in his bed at least once since they known her. Sure she wasn't so great to look at before third year, but she sure as heck is a great girl, ain't she? She's always been so amazing." He looked off dreamily, and Draco couldn't help but feel like he maybe still had a few feelings left behind for his fiancée. He wasn't exactly okay with that, and was a strange combination of angry and awkward.  
But leave it to Weasley to break an awkward moment by saying something incredibly stupid.  
"Wait, you're going to...do it with her?" he ended in a whisper.  
Draco was incredulous. He had no idea what to say, so he was glad when Harry burst into uproarious laughter and answered for him. "What do you think being married is, Ron?"  
"Well, they don't have to, do they?"  
"But do you expect them not to?" Fred asked, amused.  
"I mean, maybe not all of us wanted to go that far like Seamus said, though I'm sure a lot of us did," George added thoughtfully, "but if you can, wouldn't you?"  
"That's a stupid question," Dean said. "Of course Ron wants to."  
Now things were really getting awkward. Thankfully, Hermione came over just as Draco was trying to find something to say that wouldn't come across as overly protective and jealous, and wanted to know what was funny.  
"Oh, er, Ron told this great joke to us before!" George exclaimed.  
"Yeah, it was a real knee slapper!" Fred agreed. "Go ahead, Ron! Tell her!"  
His face was already flushed scarlet from embarrassment. He looked like he was trying really hard to think of one before he said anything.  
Then:  
"How many apples grow on trees?"  
Hermione stared at him intently, seriously, for a few moments. "How many?"  
"All of them!"  
There was dead silence.  
"It was a nice try, Ronald," she said then with a shrug. Ron looked down into his lap dejectedly and was slapped on the shoulder by a hysterical Dean and Seamus.  
She turned her attention to Draco. "I think we should head back to the castle," she said quietly. "I don't want Gizelle to get suspicious or anything."  
Draco nodded, quite ready to get out of this place. "Of course."  
Hermione went around and said goodbye to each person individually before she was ready to go. Remus reminded him of his mission (but how could he forget?) and then the two left the house and apparated back to the castle. They walked up the way to the castle, but were stopped at the gate by several Auror's.  
"State your name and business."  
Hermione was confused. "Hermione Gr- de la Estrellas," she said. "And...I live here?"  
His eyes narrowed. "Prove it."  
Hermione sighed, hoping she wouldn't have to go through this every time she left the castle. She pulled the key from inside her dress and showed it to the Auror, who was still very suspicious, until the Queen called to him from the entrance that it was okay and that Hermione was actually her daughter and was allowed to enter, as was Draco.  
"My apologies, Princess."  
They entered the castle and were made to follow Gizelle to the throne room, where the King and Narcissa Malfoy were waiting for them.  
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, looking at each of their worried faces.  
"Agatha told me about the attempt on your life today," Gizelle said. "We've decided we don't want to take any chances. We're taking all forms of precaution. Draco you are moving in with your mother tonight, and Hermione, we're increasing the protection on you tenfold until we can stop these attempts."  
Hermione wanted to protest that it wasn't necessary, that the Order had everything under control, but then she would let it slip that she was sneaking off to Order meetings, and that was unacceptable, so she kept quiet.  
"Are you ready for bed?" Gizelle said after a moment.  
"Er, sure," Hermione replied. "I suppose."  
Gizelle nodded. "Draco, will you please escort the Princess to her bed chambers? I'll send your ladies in waiting along in due time."  
Draco nodded and took Hermione's arm in his. They turned around and exited the throne room. Draco knew exactly where they were going.  
"How do you have this whole place memorized?" Hermione asked incredulously when they made it to her bedroom in record time.  
Draco smirked. "I've got a good memory."  
"Liar!" she said as she opened the door and stepped inside. "You've been here before. Why?"  
"We vacationed here when I was younger, before I came to Hogwarts," he replied. "I had a lot of time for memorization."  
Hermione was unsure how she was meant to reply, so she kept silent. Then she realized she was supposed to say goodbye somehow.  
"Well, thanks for taking me to dinner," she said. "I had a wonderful time."  
He smiled tiredly and did something Hermione wasn't expecting at all. He took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss. Hermione knew that royalty generally kissed the air above the hand, but his lips touched her skin, leaving it warm where they had been. "Goodbye, love," he replied.  
He turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.  
Hermione stumbled to her bed and sat down clumsily with her mouth agape. She was unsure if the pet-name was him playing along with their charade or if he meant it, but it was strange for him to call her anything other than a vile name or "Granger," if he was feeling kind. He'd never even said her real name. At least, not that she could remember.  
She flopped back on her bed and mind did what its default was to do - start thinking about things she didn't want to think about.  
She had overheard the boys talking about her and Draco's wedding night, and now that was all her mind wanted to think about. But she definitely did not.  
For now, however, her thoughts were interrupted. Agatha entered the room with the rest of her staff, and they began to prepare Hermione for bed. Hermione couldn't wait to pile up beneath the covers and fall asleep.  
When the other ladies had left and Agatha was the only one left behind, brushing Hermione's hair, Agatha spoke.  
"They got rid of the apparition point within the castle, Hermione," she whispered.  
Hermione's eyes opened wide and she felt her stomach drop. "What?"  
Agatha nodded. "Yes. It's gone. Now the only way to get out of here is to walk off past the castle boundaries."  
Hermione's eyes widened further. "What other crazy things are they doing to protect me?"  
"Well, for one, you are not allowed to leave this room without some form of an escort. I think they were planning on enlisting an Auror, but they were also considering having you choose someone."  
"I choose Draco," she said immediately.  
Agatha nodded. "I'll pass the information right along. But for now, I have orders to keep you locked in here until morning."  
Hermione froze completely. "This is ridiculous," she whispered.  
"They only want to keep you safe."  
Hermione wanted to protest, but she couldn't think of a valid argument at the moment. She remained silent while Agatha finished her hair, and stayed staring at her reflection in her mirror all the way until she heard the "click" of the lock when Agatha left.  
She tried her wand.  
Completely useless.  
She threw herself at her bed, feeling completely hopeless. She'd have to talk to Draco about this.  
Soon enough she turned out the lights and curled up beneath the blankets. Again, all of the thoughts she didn't want to have came to her mind, such as her and Draco's wedding night, their life together. She was thinking of ways to force herself to fall in love with him when she gently drifted off to sleep.  
Draco was back in the throne room with Gizelle, John, and his mother, leaning against the wall as the "adults" discussed he and Hermione's future. Narcissa was gushing to Gizelle about how beautiful she imagined their babies to be when, thankfully, Hermione's personal maid, Agatha, rang the bell at the door.  
"Enter," the Queen said firmly, and she walked in with enough confidence that she didn't look a coward but not so much that she looked contemptuous.  
"The Princess would like to request Sir Draco Malfoy as her personal body guard, if it is still her choice on the matter."  
Gizelle nodded. "I agree. As long as he is up to it."  
Although Draco knew she had most likely chosen him out of anyone else because she knew of his mission, he couldn't help but imagine it was because she wanted him around.  
"Of course," he replied with a quick bow of his head.  
"Right," Gizelle responded, also nodding. "Then let the arrangements be seen to. Your bedroom will be right across the hall from hers, and any movement made in her room will be heard in yours as well. All the precautions will be taken. You will keep her safe."  
Draco bowed. "It will be my honour, highness."  
Yes, it would be his honour. Because, at the moment, he couldn't think of many better things than being around Hermione 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He would make her fall in love with him the way he was with her if it was the last thing he ever did.

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she felt strangely suffocated, and it wasn't just because she had extra blankets on top of her and she had somehow managed with her head beneath five different pillows. Sitting up and shaking out her hair, she climbed out of bed and moved across the room, her slippers clicking as she made her way from her bed to the door. She attempted to pull the door open, but recalled the new "precautions," and found it locked.  
Sighing rather loudly, she clomped back to her bed and jumped upon it, causing the springs and the wood to creak. Finding the sound strangely pleasing, she bounced up and down a few times, then giggled to herself.  
She was having so much fun in her own little world that she jumped nearly a foot into the air when her door was thrown open. She fell to the floor and blinked a few times before she peered over the edge of her bed slowly.  
Draco was standing in the doorway menacingly, glaring at her ferociously. "Is it so much to ask that you keep it down when your body-guard is trying to sleep? Every sound from this room is magnified times ten in my room. It sounds like you're having a rock concert every time you take a frigging step." He brought his fingers to his lips. "Sh!"  
Then he slammed the door, and Hermione heard what he meant - there was a resounding crash coming from the room across the hall, one that startled Hermione so much that she ducked back behind her bed and wanted to go across the hall and see if everything was okay.  
It scared her so much that she forgot to think about how angry she was at such a blatant invasion of personal privacy.


	9. Chapter 9

Taking care not to make too much noise, Hermione, in her bare feet, tiptoed from her bed to her desk, where she sat down with her quill, ink and parchment, and began a letter to Remus, explaining all of the ridiculous precautions being taken and, chiefly, the lack of an apparition point within the castle.  
Then she tiptoed to the door and found that Draco had accidentally left it unlocked. With a giddy grin, Hermione opened the door and headed down the hallway to the owlery, where she quickly sent the letter, watching the owl fly off into the distance.  
When it was out of sight, she turned around, smiling to herself.  
She nearly had a heart-attack when she found Draco standing at the door, his arms crossed over his bare chest, glaring at her.  
"Are you trying to get me in trouble?" he said quietly.  
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently as she stepped around him and began to make her way back to her bedroom.  
"You can't sneak out like that!" he exclaimed. "I'll get in trouble. I'm not supposed to let you alone, so you can't be running around at will. Tell me next time. All you have to do is say my name and it'll be blasted into my room at ten times the volume. And as long as I've been woken up, I'd might as well come over."  
"I'll remember that," Hermione said sweetly as they approached her bedroom.  
"Are you purposely trying to infuriate me?" Draco growled.  
Hermione had to laugh. It was ridiculous how cranky he was when he was woken from sleep. It was almost nine, even.  
"Maybe," she replied. "Anyways, I'd love to stay here and chat with you in the hallway, but I really must be going. I'll see you a little later."  
"Be quiet in there," was all he said before closing the door behind her.

A while later, Draco received an owl from Remus Lupin, explaining that, because the apparition point had been removed and Hermione would no longer be able to sneak from the castle, it was his duty to get her to and from the Order meetings. He wasn't sure how, but he offered to help brainstorm ideas. The next Order meeting was that night, though, because there had been some Death Eater movement then night before, so Remus encouraged him to think quickly.  
Draco decided that the best way to get her out would be to say he would be taking her to visit her parents and other relatives, or other friends. It made sense, and he knew it was something Hermione would fight hard for, so it wouldn't cause any suspicions.  
He wrote to Remus to relay the message to Hermione - there were far too many people listening in on them for him to tell her the truth to her face - and then he got ready to face the day.

"Are you entirely sure that you must visit your grandmother today?" Gizelle said, appearing upset. "You've got class today."  
"I've already read nearly every book in the library," Hermione said, which was the truth. "Can't we just discuss this tomorrow?"  
"Well..." Gizelle crossed her arms and looked Hermione up and down. "Your posture has improved...and you looked like you knew what you were doing at breakfast..." She lightly threw up her hands, palms out. "Fine. If you insist. But we are having a conversation about what you read tomorrow after breakfast, no excuses."  
Hermione grinned excitedly. "Of course!" she exclaimed.

This went on for 5 Order meetings across a span of 2 weeks, and not once did Gizelle become suspicious. She continued her classes and everything, and she was preparing to marry Draco at the end of the month.  
At least, she continued to say "end of the month." But really, the wedding was in only a week, and she was becoming more and more nervous.  
Draco was even worse, because he still had no idea what Hermione felt for him, while he thought he would puke whenever he saw her, his love was so strong. It was a strange way of thinking of it, but it was entirely true. He had overheard some servants talking about how wonderful Hermione looked in her wedding gown and he thought he would split from the excitement.  
He hadn't told anyone besides Blaise his secret, but, as it turned out, someone else had noticed his feelings for her.  
"Are you waiting until the wedding to tell her?" said little Agatha.  
He knew Agatha fairly well by now. She had been helping the two sneak out at times when they had middle-of-the-night meetings, and she was almost always with Hermione.  
"Excuse me?" Draco said quietly, deciding to play dumb.  
Agatha smiled. "Are you going to wait until the night of the wedding to tell her that you're in love with her?"  
His face hardened. "Don't be ridiculous."  
Agatha laughed. "It's okay, you know. Good, even. When I first met her, she complained that she wished to marry someone who loves her. This is a plus on your side."  
He gave in surprisingly easy. "Yes," he said. The two were walking to Hermione's room. "But she probably assumed that she would be in love with the person who loved her, don't you agree?"  
"Who says that she doesn't love you?" Agatha replied when they were getting very close.  
Draco's eyes widened. "You mean...?"  
"I don't know," she replied. "But I could try to find out for you, if you'd like."  
"If...it's not too much to ask..."  
Agatha smiled and shook her head before she entered Hermione's room and closed the door, leaving Draco in the hallway, his heart attempting to commit the suicide leap from his chest.

"Hermione," Agatha said thoughtfully, cunningly, as she worked at braiding her master's hair.  
Hermione tilted her chin sideways a bit to let Agatha know she was listening. She had been reading a book on the royal heritage that Gizelle had assigned a few days before. She'd had quite a bit on her mind, lately, and found that reading was becoming difficult, as she was so inattentive.  
"Yes?"  
"Do you still hate Draco Malfoy?"  
She was a bit surprised by the question and was unsure of what exactly to say. She thought for a moment, slowly setting her book down on the vanity, pages to the side to save her place.  
"No, I don't hate him. I'm not sure I ever really hated him. Did I say that? I was just exaggerating, really. Why?"  
"Oh, just wondering," she replied. "The wedding is coming up so quickly. I was just wondering if you'd had a change of heart, that's all."  
Agatha didn't say anything else, but now Hermione felt as though she needed to explain herself, which was just what Agatha had intended.  
"I mean," she said, a bit frustrated. "I do like him. A lot, really. I don't know how I feel. I'm confused is all."  
Then she froze, standing up quickly. "He's not in his room, is he? Oh, Merlin, did he hear any of this? Is he hearing me now?  
Agatha chuckled. "It's alright, Hermione. He was headed to the Owlry when I last saw him. He hasn't heard a word of this."  
Which was a complete lie, Agatha knew, but Hermione believed her, and Draco was glad for that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Haven't updated in a really long time, so here's a nice exciting chapter to make up for it. :)**

...

Narcissa sighed dreamily as she pinned a large cream colored hibiscus into Hermione's updo. "You just look so beautiful," she cooed, running her fingers down the thick fabric of Hermione's cloak. It was a winter wedding and Hermione was afraid she looked like an eskimo, but the cloak fell back over her shoulders to reveal the strappy top of her dress that made her look much less like an eskimo and more like a hula dancer. The bottom half of the dress was different from everything the rest of the dress had to purvey - layers and layers of glittering princess tulle cascaded from her waist. "I always wanted a daughter." She stepped in front of Hermione and placed her hands on her shoulders. Hermione spotted the tears glistening at the corners of Narcissa's eyes and was horrified and unsure of what to do, especially when Narcissa threw her arms around Hermione's neck and gave her an unnaturally tight hug. Narcissa smelled wonderful and was extremely soft. "Now I'll have you! I'm so glad you and Draco are getting along now. It won't be long and then I'll have grandchildren! Oh, you and Draco will have the most pleasant looking babies..."

Hermione was stunned. She could not think of a single thing to say for the first time in quite possibly her entire life.

And when Narcissa and Gizelle began to gush and gush and gush over curly blonde hair and brown eyes and dimples, Hermione thought she might actually pass out.

Agatha, who had been on her knees hemming Hermione's cloak, caught sight of Hermione's expression and giggled a tiny bit before throwing in that she thought the twins gene swirling around in Gizelle's family would create the cutest pair of children the wizarding world had ever seen. Hermione flicked a small glare in her direction. There was literally no way to escape this conversation, especially in this costume. So she was forced to stand there and simply take it.

After about another half hour of their discussing Hermione's sex life and the results, they helped Hermione out of the dress and Hermione dressed herself in a simple dress, not even floor length, light and lavender and soft, and saw herself out, rushing back to her bedroom as quickly as she could.

She flopped onto her bed, letting out a great gust of a sigh, followed shortly by a groan.

A moment later Draco let himself into her room. He was munching on an apple and his hair was in disarray.

"Rough day?" he asked her, leaning up against the doorframe. He took a loud bite from the apple, which Hermione heard echoing across the hall in his bedroom.

Hermione groaned again. "You've no idea. I never wanted to have that conversation with your mother ever in my entire life, but there I was, forced into it -"

"Yeah, I don't care," Draco said, pacing across the room to her window. Hermione glared at him, but he didn't see. He took one last bite of his apple before he got into a tossing stance and chucked his apple core far out across the courtyard, hitting a man in full-out armour on the back of the head. The resulting ringing could be heard all of the way up in Hermione's room. Draco stepped out of the way of the window with the slightest smirk on his lips. "I'm just here to tell you that your mum sent me a letter today. She wants you to come by as quickly as you can. Something's happened to your father."

Hermione knew it was just code but it still shocked her enough so that she could play along.

"Are you serious?" she exclaimed, her best acting shining through. She threw herself off of her bed and shoved her feet into the closest shoes she could find - her riding boots, which she'd had to wear all of that afternoon before trying on her wedding dress. Apparently, horseback riding was a necessity to princessly knowledge. She picked up her backpack and threw that onto her back as well. "Let's go!"

Draco nodded. "Of course. I'll meet you out front. I'm just going to go and tell Agatha to let your mother know."

...

Hermione couldn't deny the fact that she was more than a little concerned when she, Agatha and Draco were called into the throne room. But she couldn't say that she didn't know what this was about. There was only one thing it could be about.

"So, Hermione, dear," Gizelle said, barely hiding the venom in her tone. "How's your father doing?"

Hermione cleared her throat, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. "He's okay now," she replied, thinking carefully. "But he wasn't doing so well earlier."

"Oh, really?" replied Gizelle. "Because I stopped by personally this morning to offer help with whatever might have been going on - Agatha, dear, you were very vague and peaked my curiosity -" Agatha bowed her head - "but you were nowhere be found. Even more interesting - your father hasn't been in any pain in almost a month! Isn't that wonderful? His muggle chiropractor can work miracles, he says."

"Mother, please, let me explain -" Hermione began. This was really, really bad.

"I will have none of it!" Gizelle snapped. "You've been sneaking out! I don't know where and I don't know why, but it's done! Mr. Malfoy, the wedding is off. I shall not have anyone who can lie to the face of their Queen marrying my daughter. Because I have a soft spot for your mother you are free to leave, but I want you out of the castle by tomorrow afternoon."

Hermione tried to interrupt her, her heart sinking and making words difficult, but Gizelle pressed on, stuck in an angry torrent of words and bad news.

"Hermione, I am choosing a new bodyguard for you. The next time you leave your room will be your wedding day, when you will be marrying my second choice for you, Master William Corrig."

She turned her gaze to Agatha, which Hermione had been dreading the entire time. Hermione felt extremely protective of Agatha. They were friends. She reached over and placed her hand in Agatha's.

"And as for you," Gizelle began coldly. She turned her head towards the door. "Guards! Please take this girl to Azkaban. She has disobeyed the Queen's orders and has committed a large number of crimes against the throne.

Hermione could feel the scream ripping from her throat but could not hear it. She lost track of her senses as her grip tightened on Agatha's hand, which had gone limp. The Queen raised her wand to force Hermione off of the servant girl, but Draco pulled Hermione away and close against his chest. His face was solemn as he watched Agatha being dragged away. Hermione thrashed against him but the moment the door closed she fell limp. She didn't even know if anyone was calling after her - she took off out of the room and up into her bedroom. A few moments later she heard the door click locked and felt as though her life was completely and indubitably over.

...

The next week goes by in a blur for Hermione. She's unconscious for most of it, refusing to move from her bed at most times. The first day of solitary confinement she refused the food and drink served to her and got up to use the bathroom once. The second day she refused again and didn't even get up to use the bathroom. On the third day she woke up dry-heaving and finally scarfed down the supper of cold turkey and a baked potato that had been left behind for her and downed four glasses of water. She vomited and went back to bed.

For Draco, the days went by as slowly as they possibly could have. He packed his things and he and his mother moved back to their previous estate. His mother cried and refused to speak to him for the first two days. Draco had nothing to do - his life was over. Hermione wasn't his.

Remus, however, stopped by his home to remind him that Hermione was still his charge, and tells him they need to continue to protect her even if they are not married.

Draco didn't want to accept defeat so easily, but the wedding was the very next night and he could not think of a single way to prevent it from happening.

That night, Draco wrote a letter to Blaise Zabini, requesting that he come the Hogs Head that night to discuss something with him. Blaise had been considering joining the Order for quite some time and becoming a double-agent, as he was still the son of a Death Eater and hadn't managed to escape quite yet, so Draco figured he would jump at his plan.

Draco arrived several minutes earlier than the time they'd planned on meeting and ordered himself a firewhiskey. Hand wrapped around the grubby mug, Draco fixed his eyes out the window but tuned in his ears to what was happening within the pub. He got most of his best intel from the people who slipped up in here and he was grasping at straws, hoping for anything that could help him out tomorrow.

Something quite interesting was going on at the other end of the bar.

"Their plan is flawless!" some man was boasting. "They'll never see it comin', they won't! Bellatrix will be queen before long, just you wait and see!"

Draco's stomach lurched and he needed to know what was going on, but at just that moment his best friend sat down in the seat in front of Draco and downed Draco's drink. "Hey, mate. What's this all about?"

"Blaise, what do you know about a man named William Corrig?"

"Corrig?" Blaise asked, eyebrow quirked. "He was a Death Eater. Very loyal to the cause. Always went around before the Dark Lord came back, bragging that he knew of the plan to bring him back before I'm sure there ever was a plan. He's still working with the Lestranges and your father, I think, but after the Dark Lord fell he denied everything and got out of Azkaban because of some donations he's made to the ministry. He's pretended that he turned over a new leaf and has made several statements about Potter, but I'm sure he's never met the kid." Blaise noticed Draco's face becoming rapidly more horrified. "What's this all about, mate?"

"Corrig is marrying Granger tomorrow evening," Draco replied. "We've got to stop it."

"You're right, we do!" Blaise exclaimed. "Bloody hell, Draco, why didn't you tell me this earlier? We gotta save that poor girl! I didn't know he'd infiltrated the castle yet! The plan was to sneak into the wedding and off Granger there, make a statement, but he can do it so much easier this way! He's probably planning to do it on their wedding night. We gotta save that poor girl."

Draco was quite sure he was going to vomit any minute now. "I need another drink."

"Not now, mate," Blaise said, standing. "Let's tell that Lupin fellow. Now."

...

On the fourth day, Hermione rose from her bed instead of lying there. She slowly drank a glass of water and nibbled at her croissant before running a brush through her hair.

Today was the day.

At around noon there came a knock at her door before the luck unlatched and Narcissa came in, her eyes rimmed in red. Hermione felt horrible, remembering the excitement in Narcissa's eyes when she expressed that she would love to have Hermione as her daughter-in-law. But at least she would get to dress Hermione for her wedding.

Hermione gave Narcissa a tight hug before Narcissa dragged in a team of ladies-in-waiting and her wedding gown. After the gown was on, Hermione held out her arms, expecting them to charm away her tattoo for the day, but Narcissa gently pushed them back towards her sides. "No. Let's leave them. Make a statement."

Hermione had never thought about how strong Narcissa was before. She had lied to the Dark Lord about Harry's death, and she had walked away from her husband to save her son and her own life. She really was someone to admire, and Hermione would have loved to have her as a mother-in-law as well. Or maybe even a sister. Hermione smiled shakily at her and hugged her once again, trying hard not to cry, which would mess up the makeup that had taken nearly an hour to put into place.

Finally, the time came for her to leave and stand at the end of the aisle. The music began and Hermione made her grand entrance. Everyone stood and turned to admire her. Camera's flashed but Hermione didn't notice them. Her eyes were locked on her groom. Unlike most bride's, she wasn't gushing with joy over how wonderful her husband looked. Instead, she was seeing him for the very first time and trying to get a handle on him.

He was tall and lean and not bad looking, with a sharp face and a bit of stubble. But he had a cold look in his eyes, despite the obviously forced look of cheer he was putting on for the cameras, and he appeared to be rather old, possibly in his late forties.

Hermione finally reached the last steps of the aisle and he reached out to take her hand, which Hermione took back. She was giving in and it sickened her. However, this was not the man who had originally been hired to do the wedding. Who was this man? Hermione wondered if perhaps this Mr. Corrig had hired him in place of the previous man to get out of the magical bond that came with being wizard-married.

Her parents were in the crowd, in the very front pew. She could see that they were happy - their minds had probably been tampered with.

The man had begun to speak. He droned on and on and on and finally Hermione caught it.

_He mispronounced a spell._

_They weren't really getting married._

_What was going on?_


	11. Chapter 11

Hermione definitely felt better, knowing that the wedding was a fake and she wasn't magically wizard-married bonded to this man. But now she was incredibly suspicious. Why wasn't she married to him? Had it been his idea...or Gizelle's?

Hermione spoke very little, smiled very little. She wasn't even trying to put on a show or keep up a good reputation in front of all of these people. She knew Gizelle was not going to be happy about it, but she could honestly not have cared any less about what Gizelle wanted or felt ever again. As far as Hermione was concerned, Gizelle was the enemy.

The only member of the Order that Hermione saw in the crowd was Kingsley Shacklebolt, and she was positive he was only allowed in because he was the minister and for no other reason. She knew the other members had been invited, but there was no doubt that after what Hermione had pulled they had been barred from entering. That hurt.

The ceremony went quickly and they were soon all escorted to the Grand Ballroom for what everybody really came for - the wedding feast and the reception. Hermione couldn't taste any of the food - her mind was working too hard on figuring out what on earth was going on. She wasn't so sure she'd even eaten anything - she could have just been sitting there the whole time.

At the reception she was forced to dance with her new "husband." He tried to speak to her, she could tell, but after a few moments of giving answers that were only small grunts and an occasional nod of the head, he gave up and they moved on to dancing with the others.

Hermione suddenly found herself dancing with one Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Minister!" Hermione gasped. "The wedding is fake! The priest made a mistake!"

"It was never meant to be," he said in his deep, resonating voice. "Listen, Miss Granger, we haven't much time. Draco will be breaking into your room tonight to steal you away - go with him. Someone shall explain better later as I do not want you to panic, but Mr. Corrig is a dangerous man and you need to escape."

Hermione had guessed this.

"A Death Eater?" she whispered.

Shacklebolt gave her the tiniest nod of the head and then the music changed and Hermione was thrown in with a new dance partner. She felt sorry for this kind looking young gentleman. She didn't get just the silence and the awkwardness but also the horrible fear that she knew was most probably evident in her eyes, not to mention the ferocious anger that she also felt.

The dancing would go on for much longer; however, it was customary for the bride and the groom to leave before everybody else and before midnight. So this is what they did.

They were escorted to a room in a part of the castle Hermione had never seen before. She hoped Draco could find it. Then she remembered how effortlessly he'd walked her to her bedroom and knew all would be well.

They were led in two separate directions once they entered a small room and in Hermione's room she was stripped and scrubbed down and covered in potions and perfumes and lotions and dressed in nothing but a skimpy nightgown. Then she was told to go through another door, and she found herself in the bedroom.

The bed was enormous and the room was gorgeous, but that was not what Hermione noticed upon entering the room. Instead, her eyes locked onto her new "husband." Mr. Corrig was leaning against one of the poles holding up the canopy that cascaded around the bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his long hair, which had previously been tied back in a ponytail, hung down on either side of his face. Hermione noticed that his eyes held a sort of permanent smirk - he wreaked condescension and it made Hermione furious.

"Hello, wife," he said softly. "Of course, I'm sure you know that you're not actually my wife. They're not kidding when they call you the brightest witch of your age."

Hermione flashed a quick smile, repressing both her revulsion and her anxiousness. What if things didn't turn out well? She had her wand strapped to her calf - she'd slipped it in when her attendants were preparing her potions - but if it came to a fight she wasn't sure she'd be able to draw it quick enough. Unless she were the first to strike...

"It's not a title they throw around lightly," she replied with a smile.

"I like your tattoos," he continued. "They're very...sexy. A phoenix. To represent the end of the war, I'm sure."

"Close, but not quite," Hermione replied.

His eyebrows raised. "Oh?"

"Yes," was all she said, and he dropped it.

"Well, now," he said. "You'll have to tell me sometime. I'll simply die if I don't find out."

"I think you'll die anyway!" Hermione whipped out her wand and sent a spell flying in Corrig's direction, but he had been expecting this. He deflected her spell easily, wordlessly, and in the next instant he had returned the favor with an _avada kedavra_! Hermione jumped out-of-the-way and the spell hit the bureau, smashing it to splinters and sending lingerie flying every which way. Corrig laughed at the sight but his amusement quickly faded to anger when he was hit with a stinging hex that had his face swelling almost immediately. He yelled out his rage and started shooting blindly, half destroying the room in his fury. Hermione managed to get in two more shots before she heard knocking at the window and scrambled to it quickly, shoving it open.

It was Draco on a broom. "Come on, Granger, get on!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, no you don't!" cried Corrig, blind with both rage and his own swollen face. He managed one more spell that ripped across Hermione's back. She screamed and reached out for Draco. He caught her by the arms but she was dangling over the edge of the broom, which was beginning to plummet to earth.

"Hold on, Granger, you're going to have to trust me for just a minute, okay?" Draco yelled above the wind now howling past them. "I'm going to have to let go of you."

"What?" Hermione screamed. She could feel blood dripping down her back, down her legs.

Draco didn't respond. But one moment Hermione was gone, she was free-falling, she was going to die, but the next Draco had dived beneath her and scooped her into his arms and he balanced her in front of him and he turned off and they flew towards Hogwarts.

"Hold on, Granger," Draco whispered in her ear. "You're alright. Everything's gonna be alright."

But Hermione's vision was quickly blurring, it was fuzzy, it was fading, it was black.

...

Hermione came to several times over the next several hours. The first time she was still on Draco's broom, but they were coming to a landing and Draco was murmuring things to her, things she didn't entirely recall, but sweet, un-Draco-like things. Next she was inside Hogwarts, laying in Draco's arms, her head lolled back, the slice going down her back causing a pain that sent her back to unconsciousness. Finally she woke up as Draco was laying her in bed somewhere, and then her mind let her slip into a natural sleep.

When she finally woke up for good, it was because someone was shaking her shoulders.

She blinked awake and knew she must be dreaming.

"Agatha?"

Her voice was scratchy and thick, but the word was coherent.

Agatha grinned at her. "Hermione," she breathed. "You're alright?"

Hermione shifted and gritted her teeth when she felt the pain on her back. She shook her head. "My back."

Agatha frowned. "Mr. Malfoy? Will you please help me get Miss Granger on her stomach? I think she needs medical attention."

"I tried some healing on her last night," Draco responded as he moved from somewhere across whatever room they were in to help Agatha, "but it's some kind of magical wound. I couldn't do much besides stop the bleeding."

"Which was great, Mr. Malfoy, thank you," Agatha replied.

Draco gently helped Hermione sit up and then helped her around onto her stomach. He seemed very concerned and didn't let go of Hermione's hand, which she was grateful for.

"Alright, I'm going to have to try to get this nightgown off, Hermione, and it might sting a little," Agatha said. "Are you ready?"

Hermione nodded, burying her face into her pillow.

Agatha worked gently but it still hurt like hell. Hermione's pillow was soon stained with tears but she made no noise. The only way Draco knew how much pain she was in was by how tightly she was gripping his hand. He knelt beside her head and ran his free hand through her hair, murmuring to her as he had last night.

Agatha was soon done removing Hermione's dress, leaving her in just her underwear. They assessed the damage. The slice started at the top of her right shoulder and slid down to the dip above her bottom, where it hooked around and rolled around her hip.

"Hm..." said Agatha. "You're in luck, Hermione. I think I'll be able to fix this up and preserve your tattoo."

Hermione nodded against her pillow.

"When did you get it?" Draco asked when Agatha had left the room to get supplies for fixing Hermione's wounds. The night before, when they'd stopped at Hogwarts, they had picked up a few potions from Snape, knowing full well that Hermione would need them in the morning.

Hermione lifted her face from the pillow to whisper, "After the war."

It hurt. It hurt Draco so much to see her like this. "Hermione, I...have something I need to tell you..."

She turned her head to the side and squinted her watery eyes. "Did you just call me by my name?" a small smile formed over her lips.

"I - er -"

"It sounds nice when you say it," she whispered. Then she couldn't believe the words had left her mouth. She was beyond confused. What was going on?

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but then Agatha had returned with an assortment of potions and Hermione demanded to know how she'd gotten back, so she first explained how the Minister had had her released and then she insisted that she needed to concentrate on administering Hermione's potions and Hermione turned her head away, still gripping Draco's hands tightly. She turned her face back into her pillow when the potions stung and squeezed Draco's hand but he really didn't mind. When Agatha had finished Hermione was exhausted and Draco sat with her until she fell asleep.

Once she was asleep, Draco left Hermione's bedroom with Agatha and headed out to the large dining area, where everyone he'd brought with him had hung around, waiting for news.

Harry, Ron and Blaise all jumped to their feet when Draco entered.

"Well?" Harry said.

"She's fine, just tired," Draco said, and everyone managed to relax. (Except Ron, who was obnoxiously demanding he be allowed to her room, which was denied.)

Draco left the room with Blaise to explore the ruins they were currently living in.

At one point these ruins had been a castle belonging to a family that Salazar Slytherin had lived with for a while. After a war it was destroyed and left as it was, as it was supposedly haunted, but Draco hadn't seen a single ghost the entire day and a half he was here, so he guessed it was just muggle lore.

"So, did you tell her?" Blaise asked when they were far enough away from the others so they wouldn't be overheard.

Draco shook his head. "I was interrupted. But I'm going to tell her soon. Just wait."

Blaise grinned. "She'll never see it coming, you know."

"I hope not," Draco replied. "But I think she feels the same way. I mean, earlier..."

"According to Agatha, she's mad about you, she just doesn't know it yet," Blaise said. "I think you'll be fine."

Draco leaned his head back to gaze up at the sunlight. "Merlin, I hope so."


End file.
